


Helping Hands

by Shaniamr



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Accidental Cuddling, Bar Hopping, Biting, Blow Jobs, Bobby Nash Being a Dad, Buck needs a hug, Drinking at a Bar, Eddie is a tease, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fantasizing, Fire Fam - Freeform, Friends to Lovers, Grinding, Internalized Homophobia, Love Bites, M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Neck Kissing, Original Character(s), Pillow Talk, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Somnophilia, Teasing, Tickle Fights, co parenting, friends helping friends, not buddie tho, protective fire fam, somehow she became important, thanks to the buddie discord for all the ideas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 07:54:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 55,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22132669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaniamr/pseuds/Shaniamr
Summary: Everyone wants Buck to heal from the past year, and they think getting laid will help him. Buck doesn't want to revert back to Buck 1.0, but he also doesn't want his friends to worry about him. So Buck enlists the help of his best friend Eddie in fooling his friends.
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Original Character(s), Henrietta "Hen" Wilson/Karen Wilson, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Comments: 341
Kudos: 1081





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank everyone from the discord for reading over my peeks and helping keep me focused. And a special thanks to @xpaperheartso for being a wonderful beta and helping me develop this story more and more!

It was one of those rare occasions when everyone from the station had the night off. Athena and Bobby had taken Christopher and Denny, hosting the kids for a sleepover. This left everyone else childless and ready to let loose as a group after a long week. The group met up at a bar near each of their houses, ready to drink the last few shifts’ troubles away. The bar was crowded per the usual for Friday night in Los Angeles, but no one complained, they were just happy to find a booth big enough to accommodate all of them. 

Buck was at the bar grabbing the next round for the group when a girl approached him from the side. He had kept the conversation friendly enough, no matter how much she tried to flirt with him and ran her hand up and down his bicep. His skin burned uncomfortably beneath her touch, the polite smile he wore aching. When his drinks were ready, he quickly dismissed the girl as nicely as possible before making his way back to his friends, ignoring the girl’s affronted huff. 

“Alright, I’ve got one merlot for Karen and a margarita for Maddie.” Buck announced , setting down each drink in front of them. Karen kissed him on the cheek in thanks, as Maddie cheered for hers. “And then we have beers for the rest of us.” 

He sat down beers in front of the other firefighters of the group, bringing his own bottle to his lips as he settled into the booth. Buck caught Eddie’s eyes as he nodded in thanks and Buck smiled in response, the edge of his beer resting on his bottom lip. Hen and Karen quickly downed their drinks, making an excuse to hit the dance floor as they squeezed out of the booth. Buck simply laughed and slid over to take their spot. 

“So Buck, who was that hottie you were talking to over at the bar?” Chimney asked, wincing when Maddie elbowed him in the side. He glanced at her apologetically, but still tossed a mischievous look back at Buck. Buck rolled his eyes, and threw a bottle cap at Chimney’s head. He just dodged it while laughing. 

“No one!” He huffed. Chimney just laughed harder, and Buck gave him an affronted glare. He glanced at Eddie across from him, but all he did was smile and shrug, taking a sip of his own beer. Buck fiddled with the beer label. “I don’t know, just some girl who couldn’t take a hint.” 

“Why does she need to take a hint? She seemed like your type?” Chimney responded with furrowed brows. He leaned against the back of the booth, placing his arm behind Maddie who looked five seconds away from smacking her boyfriend. 

“Maybe for Buck 1.0, but you know I don’t do that kind of shit anymore.” Buck rolled his eyes.. Chimney glanced at Eddie before meeting Buck’s exasperated gaze, his own swirling with concern and sadness. 

“I know, Buck. But it’s been almost a year since Ali.” Suddenly, the synapses clicked in Buck’s mind and he saw where he was going with this. Everyone else at the station had already tried setting him up to some extent, with the exception of Eddie. Buck groaned, dropping low in his seat with his hand pinching the bridge of his nose. Chimney continued on. “Look, I’m not saying you need to jump into a relationship or anything. Maybe you can just… y’know... get laid or something.” 

Buck scoffed before taking a sip of his beer, “I can get laid if I want to! In fact, I’ve gotten laid a lot recently!” He smirked, then realized what he said had made him sound like Buck 1.0 again. He quickly back tracked, cringing at the implication . “I mean I’m getting some but not - not like a lot. I’m not gonna start stealing ladder trucks or anything again.” 

“No one said you would, Buck! We just want you to be happy and let loose a little.” Maddie responded as she placed her hand on Buck’s bicep. “You just seem tense through all the shit you have been through this year. Maybe you should find someone to help ease that tension.” Buck  _ almost _ missed the split second flicker of her eyes to Eddie. 

“I understand you guys are worried about me but there’s no need.” Buck gulped down the rest of his beer and met Eddie’s eyes across the booth. Eddie had been uncharacteristically quiet during the whole conversation, but Eddie just smiled at him in response, eyes slightly glazed over, already buzzed from his three beers so far that night. Buck looked away from Eddie’s eyes and glanced back at Chim and Maddie, seeing the concern in their eyes. He rolled his eyes with another huff. “If you guys are that concerned about it, I’ll go out on the dancefloor and  _ maybe _ someone will catch my eye.” 

The two nodded as Buck slid out of his side of the booth, glancing at Eddie who was frowning down at his phone. Buck rolled his eyes and continued to find his way out on the dance floor. He was a little hurt that his best friend didn’t stick up for him, but then again Eddie seemed almost completely stuck in his own head that night. Buck eventually found his way onto the dance floor, spotting Hen and Karen in the peripheral of his vision and bee-lining towards them. He didn’t get more than half-way before a woman grabbed onto his bicep, pulling herself into his space and started dancing on him. 

The woman was objectively attractive, definitely the type of girl Buck 1.0 would have gone after, if maybe a little on the younger side. In any case, Buck saw no problem dancing with her since that’s exactly what his friends want him to do. He just had absolutely no plans in hooking up with her at all. Buck swung her around to where he was facing the booth his friends were in. 

From this position Buck could see the group still left there, and made sure to give Maddie and Chim a half- grin to show them he was trying. His eyes then flicked over to meet Eddie’s, noticing even from across the room that the dazed look in his eyes from earlier was gone and replaced with something else. Something dark and heady; something Buck only ever saw in his dreams. He raised his eyebrow in question at Eddie from across the dancefloor, while the woman placed her hand on his chest and dragged his attention to her. She smiled up at him and licked her painted lips, green eyes shifting colors with the pulsing lights above them. Slowly she ran her hand down his chest before resting it on his belt buckle.

The woman boldly placed her index finger under the waistband of his pants, pulling him even closer. Buck smirked back at her, placing his own hand on the small of her back as she moved to place her other hand behind his neck. For a while they danced against each other to the thumping beat, Buck losing himself in the music and having a good time. Eventually the woman started to pull his head down toward her, leaning up to whisper in his ear.

“You wanna get out of here?” Her breath was hot, wet against his ear. Once upon a time that might have made his cock harder than a rock, but now it barely twitched in interest. He glanced back up at his friends over her shoulder, locking eyes with Chim who fist bumped the air and  _ Whooped! _ . Buck rolled his eyes and smirked at him, seeing no point in showing that he had no intention of fucking this girl. 

“Sorry, I’m not really looking for a hookup right now. You were a great dance partner though.” Buck leaned down to whisper in the woman’s ear himself. She moved back to study his face face before turning in Chimney’s direction . She turned back to him and smirked. 

“Friends wanting you to get laid?” Buck pulled back and laughed, grabbing her hips and catching the beat of the next song as they started dancing again. 

“Something like that.” The woman laughed, placing her hand on his chest again. 

“No worries, my friends are the same way.” She nodded her head, gesturing behind Buck at a group of girls dancing. They kept giggling and watching the two of them dancing. Buck just laughed and turned back around, more than a little relieved. The girl leaned up again. “I really have to go to the bathroom. Do you mind walking me in that direction? Then it would seem like we were going off somewhere to hookup.” 

“It would be my pleasure.” Buck pulled back,, throwing Chim and Maddie a wink across the floor before pulling the woman off the dancefloor. The two of them bee-lined toward the bathrooms, separating once they were further away from their respective friends. 

“Thanks again for walking me over here. I’m Claire by the way.” The woman, Claire, said, offering her hand up to Buck. 

“Thanks for helping me lie to my friends a little longer.” Buck grasped her hand, laughing. “And I’m Buck.” 

“It was no problem, besides I think your one friend might have bitten my head off if we had gotten any closer.” Buck cocked his head in confusion, but Claire just laughed it off. “Anyway, I suggest hiding out in the bathroom for a few minutes and ruffling your hair and clothes. Trust me, works every time.”

Buck laughed, thanking her again before heading off to the bathroom. It was fairly empty as he stepped up in front of one of the mirrors. He began running his hands through his hair, mussing it up in what was hopefully a post-just had sex in the bathroom look. He even undid a few buttons on his shirt before checking his reflection again.. Rather than looking blissed out, he resembled someone who’d just crawled out of bed with last night’s clothes still. Buck groaned quielty, knowing his friends would never believe this to be his post sex look. He spent a few more minutes staring at his reflection, before finally grabbing his phone from his pocket and shooting a text to his best friend. 

**Buck:**

Hey man, can you come to the restroom real quick? 

Buck shoved his phone back in his pocket, deciding to lean back against the wall opposite the restroom door. He thought about why he’d texted Eddie, asking himself what exactly he thought Eddie could do to help his situation - the answer being he had no idea, but chalked it up to him being the only one  _ not _ pushing for him to get laid. He could at least tell him it was all a ruse and maybe get him to help with his ‘freshly fucked’ vibe. A moment later his phone buzzed with a notification. 

**Eddie:**

Why? Did you forget a condom or something? 

**Buck:**

NO DIPSHIT! Just come to the bathroom and I’ll explain! 

**Eddie:**

OMW! Be a few minutes. 

Buck rolled his eyes and shoved his phone into his back pocket. He walked back over to the sink to look over his appearance again. He looked like he just rolled out of bed after a good nap, nothing pointing to a good old fashioned fuck in a bathroom. He was standing there glaring at himself in the mirror when Eddie finally made his way into the restroom. He stepped behind Buck, a look of concern and confusion reflecting in his eyes as Buck’s met his in the mirror. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Edie placed his hand on his shoulder, turning him around to face him. Buck smiled, fluttering his eyelashes as he looked down at Eddie. Eddie rubbed his hand down Buck’s shoulder, looking deeply into his best friends eyes to make sure everything was okay. Sometimes he was extremely worried about Buck, who seemed to be stuck in his own world a lot lately. “What happened to that girl you were dancing with? I thought you two ran off to hook up? She ditch you?” 

“Nah, man.” Buck responded with a shrug. He moved out from under Eddie’s watchful gaze to lean against the wall by the sinks. Eddie followed him, standing close enough that their arms pressed together. He turned to look at Buck, as he bit his lip staring at his friend. “Contrary to what everyone else believes, I don’t need to get laid right now. I’m more than happy to take matters into my own hands, if you catch my drift. I just danced with that girl to appease Chim and Maddie. Otherwise, I’m gonna be hearing about it for the next year.” 

“Okay.” Eddie nodded, leaning his head back against the wall as he stared up at the ceiling. He turned back to Buck, who just fluttered his eyelashes again. “So why’d you call me into the bathroom? That’s really gonna make it suspicious to Chim and Maddie, you callin’ me in like that.” 

Buck’s eyes widened.“Shit! Did you tell them I texted you?” He groaned, palming his face as he thought about how to get out of this one. Now they were gonna know he faked the whole thing. 

“Of course I didn’t, dumbass. I’m just saying, they aren’t gonna buy it.” He looked Buck up and down, frowning at his appearance. When his eyes met Buck’s again, Buck was scowling. Eddie just laughed and smacked a hand across his chest. “And they  _ definitely _ won’t buy it if you walk out looking like that. You look like you just rolled out of bed and pulled on a shirt half asleep.”

Buck scoffed and pushed Eddie to the side. “I know. That’s why I called you back here. Claire said I should mess my hair up or something like that but it just ended up looking like this. Can you help me out here man?” 

Eddie’s hazel eyes glittered with something Buck couldn’t decipher. “I’d do anything for you, Buck, you know that.” Eddie wrapped his arm around Buck, pulling him into a headlock and mussing his hair. Buck broke free and turned to glare at Eddie as he continued. “But what exactly do you expect me to do?” 

“I don’t know. I just figured having an extra set of eyes could help? Maybe you could help me look a little more rumpled or something.” Buck shrugged as Eddie sighed, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him into the last stall. Eddie latched the stall closed before he turned back to Buck, putting his hands into the waistband of his pants and pulling his shirt loose. Buck made a move to pull away, but put his hands up in surrender when Eddie looked up into his eyes with a glare.“Okay, what are you doing?” 

“Dios mio, Buck! Exactly what you just asked me to do. Making you look like you just fucked that girl in here.” Eddie muttered something under his breath before reaching up and pulling the hair on the nape of Buck’s neck harshly, causing Buck to groan loudly and look at Eddie in confusion. Eddie held his gaze and Buck could feel his cock beginning to harden in his pants. He found it strange that his cock was much more interested in his best friend’s hands in his hair, but barely even twitched when he was dancing with Claire. Buck bit his tongue to stifle the moan crawling up his throat as Eddie continued running his hands through his hair, grabbing and pulling to make it stand up. His cock was steadily filling up his boxers when Eddie finally pulled back and gave Buck a once over. He grunted before meeting Buck’s eyes. Eddie’s eyes were dark with something that Buck couldn’t quite place. “I guess that could fool them. I just can’t help thinking there’s something missing.” 

“Hic… Hickies.” Buck stuttered out. He blinked a few times to clear out any look of arousal in his eyes before he met Eddie’s. Eddie cocked his head to the side in confusion. “Maddie and Chim both know I like to be marked up when it comes to sex. They’ll be less likely to buy it if I don’t come out with at least one love bite.” 

“Okay.” Eddie answered, dragging out the ‘kay. He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing down at the floor. “Should I like leave a couple on your neck or something?” 

“I don’t know, man. I appreciate you already helping me out this much but if that’s too far and you’re uncomfortable doing it?” Buck shrugged his shoulders, but smiled at Eddie to know that it was okay. “All I’m saying is they might question it a little bit more. I can just say she wasn’t into that or I took her from behind or something.”

“It- It’s fine, I can do it.” Eddie sputtered as he placed his hand on Buck’s hip. His fingers squeezed gently, the ticklish sensation causing Buck to cringe away slightly. Eddie chuckled and brought his other hand up to curl around the back of Buck’s neck, looking deep into his eyes. “Besides what are best friends for, right?”

“R- right.” Buck smiled, lashes fluttering to the increased tempo of his pulse. Eddie returned the gesture, tilting Buck’s head to the side to expose the sensitive flesh. His lips ghosted across Buck’s neck, tongue flicking out as he licked a stripe across his jaw before nipping at it lightly. Buck bit back another moan, sucking on his lower lip and throwing his gaze up to the ceiling. Buck wasn’t unaware of his attraction to men, but he didn’t take the time to explore that side of himself too much, still worried about his father’s opinion after all these years, and he had  _ definitely  _ never shared that part of himself with any of his friends. But that didn’t stop him from acknowledging this experience as being one of the most erotic things he’s ever felt. 

His cock was throbbing painfully as Eddie sucked on a bruise right under his jaw. Eddie’s lips slowly trailed down lower on his neck, where he began sucking another mark onto Buck’s skin. Buck could feel the heat pooling in his lower abdomen, clenching his eyes shut as he felt himself flush red.

He was frustrated at his body for reacting this way to his best friend’s touch, but he knew these feelings were nothing new. He’d admired Eddie’s body  _ way  _ too many times for him to just push it off as anything other than attraction. He knew exactly how much he was in love with his best friend, but he just had to make sure he kept those feelings buried, so he didn’t ruin the relationship they already had. 

His train of thought flew out the window as Eddie moved to the juncture where his neck and shoulder met and bit down  _ hard _ . Buck gasped, reaching out and pulling Eddie flush against his body. Eddie pulled back a little and looked at Buck, concern in his eyes. 

“Was that too hard? Did I hurt you?” Eddie ran his finger over the bite mark on Buck’s neck and the blonde shivered with arousal. If it wasn’t for Eddie holding him up, Buck’s knees would have given out from the pleasure that shot through him. He eventually met Eddie’s eyes, which were still filled with genuine concern that contrasted nicely with the heated glow lingering there. 

“N-no. That was fine.” He squeezed Eddie’s hip for reassurance, heart pounding when his best friend leaned into it. “That was more than okay, just surprised me is all.” 

Eddie grinned at him, tongue darting out to lick his lips before moving to mouth at Buck’s neck again. Buck moved his hand from Eddie’s hip to the small of his back, holding him closer so that they were practically flush against each other. Eddie’s tongue lapped over the mark, temporarily soothing the stinging sensation left behind. His hand grabbed a fistful of Buck’s hair again, pulling his head back as he started layering bruises on his collarbone. Buck pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, holding back all the noises he desperately wanted to make as Eddie began sucking on his most vulnerable spot. He could feel the heat coiling up in his gut and knew he was close to coming in his pants if he didn’t stop Eddie soon. Buck nearly whimpered at the low growl Eddie released as he pulled back, wishing desperately to grind his throbbing dick into Eddie. 

“I- I think that should be enough.” Buck managed shakily, coughing to clear his throat. His voice was more wretched than he wanted it to be and he flushed in embarrassment. He glanced at Eddie , blinking in hopes of dissipating any hint of arousal from his eyes. Eddie merely nodded, clearing his own throat. “Thanks again, man.”

“No problem, just - ah, wait a few minutes before you come out so I can make it back to the booth.” Eddie shot Buck a small smile, before stepping into his space. Buck’s breath hitched as Eddie reached around him to open the latch of the stall door. Buck took a deep breath as he stepped back out of the stall, with Eddie following behind. “I’ll see ya out there, man.” 

Buck laughed weakly and waved him out the door, turning to inspect his appearance in the mirror. He gasped when he saw his reflection staring back at him. His hair was everywhere, and his whole body was flushed red, cheeks glowing a ruddy color. There was a huge hickey where his shoulder and neck joined, surrounded by several smaller ones on the right side of his neck and collar bones. Buck pressed two fingers against the largest one, his knees buckling and he almost came in his pants from the intense pleasure. He felt precum dribble out of the head of his cock, coating the inside of his boxers. He looked absolutely wrecked and there was no way Chim and Maddie wouldn’t believe he had fucked someone in that bathroom. Or that someone had fucked him. 

Buck tore his eyes away from the mirror, figuring more than enough time had passed for Eddie to make it back to their friends. He opened the bathroom door and quickly got swallowed by the crowd that had grown immensely while he hid out in the bathroom. He spotted Eddie and Maddie at their table but decided to hit up the bar before heading towards them. 

Once he had a beer in hand, he started making his way back to his friends. He noted that Chimney had rejoined them again. As Buck was pushing past the last group of people in between himself and the table, he heard Chimney whistled lowly. He looked up and saw the three of them staring. 

“Damn, Evan. We thought you were getting laid, not mauled.” Maddie exclaimed, her eyes wide as she took in the multiple hickies. Buck shrugged and threw her a cocky smile, taking a sip of his beer. 

“Yeah, Buck.” Chimney chimed in, downing the rest of his beer. “We knew you had a thing for being marked up after watching you stumble through Buck 1.0, but even this is next level.” 

“What can I say? That woman knew what she wanted and she took it.” Buck went to take another sip from his beer, his eyes catching Eddie’s. He sent him a wink and smirked around the lip of his beer. “Not gonna lie, I almost came from her sucking on my neck alone.” 

Eddie gave him a hard look, rolling his eyes as he kicked him from across the table. Chimney and Maddie started making fake gagging noises, mimicking shoving their fingers down their throats. 

“Hey, you guys are the ones who wanted me to get laid. Speaking of where are Hen and Karen?” Buck couldn’t see them on the dance floor or near the bar as he looked around. 

“They went home while you were in the bathroom. Something about taking advantage of an empty house.” At that, Chimney faked getting sick again until Maddie elbowed him in the ribs. “Any way she said congrats on finally getting laid! Just don’t let it mess with your professional life again, or she’d kick your ass.” 

“No worries! I won’t get mixed up in that again. I’m in therapy, remember?” Buck laughed along with everyone else at the table. He met Eddie’s eyes again, fluttering his eyelashes as Eddie smirked. 

“At least you aren’t sleeping with this one!” Buck’s eyes got big before he laughed, reaching underneath the table to kick Eddie in the shin. Eddie winced but kept laughing with him. 

“Hey! She came onto me not the other way around!” Buck exclaimed, his eyes twinkling as he looked at his best friend. He picked up his beer and finished the rest of it, looking around at the people he considered his family. “I think it’s time I get outta here if I want to be able to function at some point tomorrow.” 

Buck slid out of the booth, sliding his arms into his jacket as he did so. Chim nodded at him as Maddie slid out of the booth behind him. She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him softly. “Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe.” 

Buck promised her that he’d send her a message as soon as he got home, making her promise to do the same. Buck started walking towards the exit of the bar, when Eddie suddenly appeared beside him. 

“Mind if we share an uber? You could just crash at mine, make it easier and all.” Eddie bumped his shoulder playfully and Buck returned it. 

“Fine by me.” The two of them made their way to the exit, ordering an uber once they stepped out into the night air. For L.A. it was slightly chillier than most nights, so the two men huddled together as Buck ordered an uber. Since it was only a few minutes out, Eddie started discussing his plans with Christopher the next day once he picked him up from Bobby and Athena’s, inviting Buck along to join the two of them. Buck was obviously down to join in any activity that included Christopher and didn’t hesitate to agree Another two minutes had passed before the uber pulled up. The two men slid into the car, Buck turning to Eddie as the driver pulled onto the street. 

“Hey man,” he started, studying Eddie in the darkness of the car. “Thanks again for everything you did tonight. I really appreciate you keeping those two off my ass.” 

Eddie nodded sincerely. “Of course, Buck. After everything you’ve done for me and Christopher, I’d do anything you’d ask me to. Don’t even hesitate to ask.” They shared a smile as the car drove on, falling into comfortable silence the rest of the way to Eddie’s house. 


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to [ Zel ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpaperheartso/profile) for betaing this! Enjoy!

The free weekend passed much too quickly, to Buck’s annoyance. He had spent the majority of his time with his two favorite people, Christoper and Eddie, much like he did anytime he had a free moment. Christopher had pulled out his puppy dog eyes - a skill that Buck seriously regretted teaching him - and convinced Buck to stay the entire weekend. Which lead to why Buck was making pancakes in the Diaz kitchen on Monday morning. Eddie was helping Christopher get dressed, while Buck plated breakfast for them. 

Breakfast ran much as it usually did, with Christopher and Buck trading jokes back and forth as Eddie looked after them fondly. Before too long however, it was time to drop Christopher off at school and Eddie and Buck to report for their shift. The time in between dropping Christopher off and arriving at the station was too short for Buck’s liking, but he sucked it up, ready to spend his shift with his family. 

Eddie bumped the blonde’s shoulder as they walked into the station’s locker room. They settled in front of their respective lockers, surprised at how empty it was. The two dressed in silence, pulling on their uniforms consisting of the department issued t-shirt and regulation dress pants. Eddie was still pulling his belt through his loops when Buck turned toward him, sitting down on the bench that ran between the lockers. 

“So, it seems I gotta do some laundry at some point. I’m running out of clothes at your place.” Buck started pulling his socks on when Eddie turned around to face him. Buck began trailing his eyes up Eddie’s body, eyes freezing in place as he noticed Eddie hadn’t done up his belt quite yet. He swallowed, mouth suddenly dry as he imagined how that would look in another situation. Buck finally met Eddie’s eyes after a beat, looking up from under his lashes. 

“I can always throw them in with mine and Chris’s laundry if you want.” Eddie did his belt up the rest of the way, unknowingly dragging Buck’s eyes to that same spot again. Buck forced his eyes downward as he began lacing up his shoes, a flush creeping into his cheeks. Eddie sat down next to him and began putting on his own shoes, and other crew members slowly began trickling in as it became closer to the start of shift change. Buck sat quietly beside his best friend as Eddie finished. He glanced over at Buck, bumping his shoulder. “It’ll be no problem to just toss it in. At least that way, you don’t have to lug them back and forth between our places.”

“Ye- Yeah, that should be fine. Thanks man!” Buck grinned at Eddie, moving to rub the back of his neck. He shivered as the palm of his hand brushed the large bruise on his neck, still sensitive from the other night. The other marks still stood out against his pale skin, but had lost their sting over the past few days. Eddie looked over him in concern, turning Buck’s head with a hand on his jaw. He pulled the blonde’s t-shirt aside to inspect the dark mark covering the side of his neck. 

“Is it still sensitive? It looks painful.” He brushed his index finger across the mark, and Buck was glad he was still sitting, otherwise his knees would have surely buckled. Instead, he hissed softly, eyes rolling to the back of his head. Eddie shifted his gaze from the mark to his eyes, his own swirling with concern and questions. Buck was pissed at his body for reacting to such a simple touch, his dick twitching in his pants as he shifted on the bench. 

“It’s just the blood thinners, they make me bruise super easy.” Buck explained, grateful when Eddie finally took his hand off the bruise. He prayed his cock would settle down now that Eddie was no longer touching him. Standing, he turned to face Eddie who followed his lead. Together, they made their way to the front of the station where they took turns clocking in. 

“I’m sorry either way. If I would have known, I wouldn’t have gone so hard. I hate that I hurt you!” Eddie’s eyes were swirling with concern as he looked at him, but Buck just shrugged him off. 

“You didn’t, man. You did exactly what I asked you to do.” He shoved him slightly to the side, causing Eddie to stumble. “Besides, it doesn’t hurt at all. It’s just a little sensitive.”

Eddie sighed but seemed to take Buck’s word for it as the two made their way up the steps and toward the loft. Chimney and Hen were already seated at the long table when they reached the top, talking back and forth as Chimney ate his way through a bowl of cereal. They glanced up as the two men approached the table, Hen’s eyes going wide, gasping when her eyes landed on Buck. 

“I thought Chim was kidding when he said you got mauled. That woman really did a number on you, huh.” Hen’s eyes were glued to the mark on his neck as he shrugged her off. By now the news of his supposed bathroom hookup had probably made its way around the entire station. He raised his hand to rub at the back of his neck, making sure to avoid the mark this time. “I’m glad you’re putting yourself back out there though! Good for you!”

“I thought for sure the mark was hidden by my shirt, I guess I need to go change otherwise it’ll look unprofessional.” Buck moved to go back downstairs, but Eddie stopped him with a hand on his bicep. Buck turned to look at him, and Eddie ran his fingers under the neck of his t-shirt, smoothing it out. His fingers brushed against the mark once again and it took everything in Buck’s body to not show how fazed by it he was. Eddie stepped back, his eyes filled with something that Buck couldn’t quite identify. 

“Just the neckline was a little messed up from earlier. Now you can only see a little bit of it. Should be more than okay for shift.” Buck nodded, moving to head to the table with Chim and Hen, not noticing the look the two shared. Eddie followed after him, sitting in the seat beside Chimney and across from Buck. 

“Anyway, Cap said we gotta go to the grocery store once next shift comes in since we have overlap. We’re out of almost everything that we need.” Chimney stated, turning up his bowl to drink the milk left over. 

“Alright, maybe I can convince him to get some fruit snacks this time!” Buck stated, still upset that he’d been unsuccessful in talking their captain into buying that giant box of fruit snacks the last time they made a trip to the grocery. Buck could see Eddie rolling his eyes from the corner of his eye. 

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen anytime soon, Buckaroo. If you want the fruit snacks you’re just gonna have to bring them into the fire house yourself.” Buck turned around and saw Bobby standing at the top of the stairs. “Heard you had a good time at the bar the other night. I’m glad you had fun, but I hope you were safe.” 

“Of course I was safe, Bobby! And why won’t you buy us fruit snacks? What kind of father are you supposed to be?” Buck exclaimed, smiling at Bobby as he came to sit with his team. Bobby just ruffled his hair as he took the seat next to him.

“A good one who doesn’t let you eat junk food all the time.” The team laughed as Bobby went along with Buck’s insistence that he was the father of the group. Bobby was always quick to go along with Buck’s schemes, treating him like his son as often as he could. 

“I’m still waiting for the day he slips up and calls him Dad.” Eddie joked whilst sharing a look with Chimney and Hen. He turned and looked Buck in the face, his eyes glowing with amusement. Buck scowled at him and opened his mouth to respond but was quickly cut off by the alarm ringing. The team jumped up, running to the ladder trucks and heading out to the call. The call was an easy one thankfully, just a kid who got his head stuck in the stair railing. It was a toss up between who had more fun, the kid who got stuck or Buck who was in charge of buttering the kid up to slip his head out. Buck wasn’t lying when he said he loved kids, which is why he was always given the job of keeping them calm. 

After that first call, there were back to back calls up until the last three hours of their shift where they overlapped with the next group. As the relief team took over, everyone made a point to shower the days work and grime off of themselves. Once finished, they ate a quick meal and piled into the back up ladder truck to head to the grocery store. It took no time to reach their favorite grocery store only a few blocks from the station. Bobby passed out lists to each member of the team as they stood outside the truck. 

“Now, I want you two to pick up the meat and canned foods,” Bobby said pointing to Eddie and Hen. They both nodded their heads as they looked over the list they were handed. “Chim. Buck. I want you two to get all the produce we need. Make sure you get enough as we always seem to run out too soon. I’ll get everything else and we meet back at the front in fifteen minutes. Okay?” 

Everyone nodded an affirmative, rushing to grab shopping carts. Chimney and Buck quickly made their way to the produce section, starting towards the back and grabbing things that Bobby had placed on the list. Buck looked over the list and noticed most of the ingredients were used in one of Bobby’s famous recipes. Chimney and Buck made small talk as they picked through the various fruits and vegetables, gathering most of what the list called for. Suddenly, Chimney glanced over Buck’s shoulder and his face lit up. Buck shot him a confused look and glanced over his shoulder not seeing anything that could cause this sort of reaction. He turned back to Chimney, voicing his thoughts. 

“Isn’t that the girl you hooked up with at the bar?” Chimney asked, pointing over Buck’s shoulder. Buck took another look but still couldn’t see the girl Chimney was talking about. He turned back around and Chimney sighed exasperatedly. “The one standing by the apples?” 

Buck shoot him an annoyed look but turned back around. Low and behold, there she was standing by the apples. This Claire looked significantly different from the Claire he met at the bar, more beautiful in his opinion. She was wearing simple clothes with her hair pulled into a ponytail, glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. She glanced up from gazing at the apples, looking around her before he eyes settled on Buck. Buck flashed her a quick smile, which she returned with a wave. He turned back to Chimney. “Yeah, that’s her. I’m gonna go say hello real quick. That all good with you?”

“Yeah, man. Go talk to your girl!” Chiney waved him off and Buck practically skipped over to her. She smiled brightly at him while placing the apples in her cart. 

“Claire, right? It’s nice to see you again!” Buck said. She pulled him into a quick hug which he easily returned. Of all the people he would have ever thought he’d run into, this woman from the bar was the last person he’d expect. 

“Yeah! It’s Buck, right? Or should I say Buckley?” Claire asked, pointing to the name on the left breast of his t-shirt. 

“Buck is good! Hey, thanks again for your help the other night! My friends totally bought the whole bathroom hookup thing.” They both laughed, and Buck could see her eyes drift down to the right side of his neck. He rubbed it gently, relishing in the small jolt of pleasure it still shot through him. 

“I don’t see how they couldn’t! Is that supposed to be my handy work?” She gestured to Buck’s neck, going so far as to reach up and pull his shirt down to uncover the bruises that lie beneath. She whisted lowly, before smoothing his shirt back in place. Her fingers brushing over the mark didn’t have quite the effect that it did when Eddie brushed over it. Claire looked into his eyes, smirking in amusement. “I must have really given you a good time that night huh?” 

“Yeah, you really did. At least according to my friends who think I got mauled by some animal.” They both shared a laugh, as Claire’s eyes saw something over his shoulder. She smirked and Buck turned to look at what caught her eye. All he saw was that Eddie and Hen had joined Chimney and they all seemed to be glancing at the two of them every few seconds. All but Eddie who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of them, a hard glint shining through his eyes. Buck threw him a look of confusion, eyebrows scrunched together. 

“I’m gonna assume Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding did something to help with that? At least judging by the look of pure hatred he keeps sending my way.” Claire asked, pulling Buck’s attention back to her. She placed her hand on his bicep and squeezed gently, looking over his shoulder again and giggling. “He still looks like he wants to rip me to shreds.” 

“Who? Eddie? He wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone. And yeah- yeah he helped me with the hickeys. Kinda owed me from before or something.” Claire laughed, squeezing his arm again before leaning in to his space. 

“I gotta get going but your friends keep giving us looks like we’re gonna go at it on the produce. Do yourself a favor and tell them we’re gonna hook up tonight after your shift.” Claire leaned up to whisper in his ear. She pulled back licking her lips and had a seductive look in her eyes, underlined with amusement. If Buck didn’t know that she was just helping him play his friends’ he would have thought she was serious. Instead he just played along, leaning into her once she pulled back and placed a hand on her hip. She threw another look over his shoulder and smirked. “Maybe you can get your friend to help you out again.” 

“I’ll be sure to do that!” Buck laughed, but inside he was already pondering how he was gonna ask Eddie for his help again. Or how he was going to stand the closeness if Eddie agreed. “Do you mind if I grab your number before you go? I’d like to take you out to coffee sometime as a thank you for helping me out.” 

“I’m sure we’d enjoy it. Besides I wanna hear how it goes with your friend over there.” Claire said, winking at him. Buck pulled his phone from his front pocket, handing it to her as she put her phone number in his contacts list. As she handed it back to him, she placed a hand on his bicep again and reached up to plant a kiss on his left cheek. Claire pulled away grinning. “See you tonight, hotstuff!” 

With that, she turned her back to him and bounced away toward the direction of the checkout lanes. Buck’s eyes followed her until she was out of sight, then turned to see his that the entire team had been looking at him. He skipped back over to them, a giant grin on his face and his eyes shining. Chimney and Hen were doubled over laughing, while Eddie kept staring at him, seemingly biting the inside of his cheek.

“As glad as I am to see you getting back out there, Buckaroo, please keep it professional while in public. Especially while you’re in uniform, alright?” Bobby playfully admonished, watching Buck with a smile. Buck could tell that his puedo-dad was happy for him, damned what the rules be. 

He saluted.“No problem, Cap. I’ll be on my best behavior!” Buck smiled at them all, as they laughed together. 

“Not sure that could happen even if you tried, Buck.” Chimney pointed out, knocking shoulders with him as they all started heading toward the checkout lanes. Luckily the lines weren’t too long, making it easy to get their purchases made and get out of the store. Buck’s eyes lit up as he noticed a box of fruit snacks land its way onto the conveyor belt, turning to look at his captain. Bobby just met his eyes and winked, filling Buck’s heart with warmth as he was surrounded by a group of people who really cared for him. Finally, they paid for all the food and made their way back out to the ladder truck, filling up the compartments around the fire truck with the grocery bags. Once they had all the bags loaded up, and they all buckled into their respective seats, Bobby started the short drive back to the station house. Not long on the road, Chimney turned to Buck. 

“So Buck you gotta hot date tonight after shift or what?” He asked over the headset. Eddie turned to look at Buck, his eyebrow raised, clearly wanting to know the answer to that question himself. Buck nodded his head, turning to look at Chimney. 

“Yeah, she’s coming over after work for a few beers and such.” 

“Yeah, and such.” Chimney laughed, reaching across to hit Buck on the chest. “Congrats man. I’m glad you’re havin’ fun.” 

Buck laughed with Chimney, glancing back across the aisle at Eddie. His best friend was looking down at the bottom of the truck, his brows furrowed. He looked lost in his own little world and Buck frowned, curious what could have him in such a mood. They both stayed silent for the rest of the ride, the silence not going unnoticed by the rest of the team. They didn’t bring it up however, Chimney and Hen filling the silence instead. 

Once the crew made it back, they began to unload the groceries and lug them up the stairs to the loft. Once all the bags made it up the stairs, the team started to pack them away in the cupboards. Having the five of them working together on it made the entire process finish in no time, leaving them to relax for the last hour or so of their shift. Bobby left to finish up some paperwork in his office, and Chimney and Hen decided to take over the couch to play a video game. Buck stood behind them, leaning against the railing and watching Chimney get his ass kicked at the game, when Eddie finally stepped up and leaned beside him on his left side, their shoulders brushing. 

“Did you want me to drop you off at home after work since we carpooled? Or were you just gonna catch an uber?” Buck turned to look at Eddie, surprised to see him already looking back at him. 

“A ride home would be great if it’s not too much trouble.” 

“Of course it’s not, Buck. It’s never too much trouble. How many times do I gotta tell you that?” Buck shrugged, looking down at his shoes. He’d always struggled at asking for help; it had been ingrained into his head as a sign of weakness by his father. Eddie threw an arm around him, squeezing him closer to his own body. Buck met Eddie’s eyes, seeing only warmth and comfort there as his best friend smiled at him. “Hey, did you need help with that thing again?” 

“Do I need help with what thing?” Buck was confused as to what Eddie meant. Eddie rolled his eyes before pressing two fingers into the large mark on Buck’s neck firmly, harder than he’d touched it yet. It took everything Buck possessed within himself not whimper at the sensation, his dick jumping in his slacks. Buck’s eyes widened in surprise as he caught Eddie’s drift. He was offering to help Buck fool their friends again without Buck even having to ask him. “Ye-yeah, I’d love to have some help with that thing.” 

“Alright, I’ll see if Carla can keep Christopher a little longer tonight.” Buck nodded as Eddie removed his arm from Buck’s shoulders. Eddie shot him a half-grin, moving to stand at the top of the stairs. Buck watched as he pulled out his phone to call Carla he assumed. Buck let out a harsh breath that he’d been holding since Eddie pressed on the hickey, moving to join Chimney and Hen on the couch. They asked him if he wanted to take a turn, but he declined, more than happy to just sit back and watch. Eddie’s phone call didn’t last too long, and he joined the group on the couch, taking over for Hen and whooping Chimney’s ass in the game. 

It wasn’t long before the end of their shift, everyone hopping up from the couch to go clock out. Chimney, Eddie, and Buck quickly took off toward the locker rooms in a race, with Buck pulling ahead of Chimney by the sheer length of his legs. Buck got changed in record time, sitting on the bench waiting for Eddie, who seemed to be taking his sweet time getting dressed. Try as he might, Buck couldn’t help watching his best friend get dressed. Chimney was done before Eddie, turning to slap Buck on the back before heading out of the room. 

“Hey, good luck tonight man! Make sure she doesn’t maul you too hard!” Chimney winked at him, walking out of the room to the sound of Buck’s laughter. He threw a look to Eddie, winking when he caught his eye. 

“Hey, you heard the man. Not too hard tonight.” Eddie laughed with him and pushed his shoulder as Buck stood up. Finally, Eddie was fully dressed and ready to leave, throwing an arm around Buck’s shoulder again as he led them out to the locker room and out of the station. The two walked out to Eddie’s truck, throwing their work gear into the backseat before climbing in themselves. Though Buck’s apartment was further from the station than Eddie’s house, it still didn’t take them too long to arrive, even with L.A. traffic. Realistically, it took them about 45 minutes on the main roadway, most of that time spent with the two of them sitting in silence and listening to the radio. 

When they finally pulled up to Buck’s apartment, the sun had set, leaving them to navigate the dark stairs leading up to his building. It wasn’t too difficult of a task but Buck really wished they’d put some lights around the area. Eddie had beat him to the front door, since Buck had to grab his gear bag from the back seat. Once Buck finally caught up the door was already opened, Eddie having used his spare key to get in. Buck walked into the front door, setting his gear bag on its designated hook nearby. Walking into his living room he was greeted with the sight of Eddie laid out on the couch, a beer bottle resting on is bottom lip as he smirked up at Buck. 

“Geez, make yourself comfortable why don’t you?” Buck walked over to where Eddie was laid out, pushing his feet off the couch and sitting down. Eddie laughed and sat up, his shoulder brushing against Buck’s, their thighs pressed together. Buck reached over and grabbed the beer out of Eddie’s hand, tipping it up to his mouth as Eddie glared and made a noise of protest. 

“You do realize that I opened one for you too, right?” Eddie pointed to another beer that was in fact sitting on the coffee table in front of them. Buck just shrugged, smirking at Eddie as he continued drinking for the same bottle. Eddie just sighed and grabbed the other beer from the table before settling in beside his best friend. 

“So how’d you want to do this?” Eddie asked, turning to look at his best friend. His eyes searched his face. Buck rolled his eyes, surprised they were gonna get into it this so soon.  _ No time like the present _ , he thought. 

“You can do whatever you feel comfortable doing. If it’s too uncomfortable for you we can just forget about it. I’m sure the team’s not gonna ask too many questions and I can always say she had to leave before we could do anything.” Buck went to take another sip of his beer, and was upset to notice it was already empty. He sat up and placed the empty bottle on the coffee table, watching as Eddie did the same. He watched out of the corner of his eye as his best friend turned his body to face him. Eddie put a hand on his shoulder, causing Buck to turn towards him. 

“I’m perfectly fine doing what you need me to do for this. Are we gonna have to have this conversation every time?” Eddie asked, his finger rubbing Buck’s pulse point. Buck leaned slightly into the touch, and he noticed a visible shift in Eddie’s eyes as he tracked the motion. “Now, how far did you need this to go? I figured it’d have to be a little different than what I did at the bar considering the different settings and all?”

“You probably won’t have to do too much, just something similar to the marks you left on Friday. I’d guess laying some on the other side of my neck or over the ones you’ve already left. Maybe place some a little lower, since if we were doing it at home I’d most likely be naked and have more exposed skin?” Buck gestured to each spot as he talked about it, Eddie tracking the movement with his eyes. 

“Okay, ye-yeah that’ll be no problem. So you wanna just do it here on the couch or somewhere else.” Buck could see Eddie’s eyes flick up to the stairs leading to his loft bed. He considered it, but quickly dismissed the idea for what it was, a terrible one. There was no telling how he’d react to having Eddie in his bed, his mouth on his skin. Granted, his thoughts normally involved Eddie’s mouth on another part of his anatomy.

“I think here should be good enough.” Buck stated, his eyelashes fluttering as he looked at Eddie. Eddie smiled at him, moving closer and putting his hand on Buck’s right cheek. 

“Wanna go ahead and get this over with?” Eddie asked, already moving to mouth at Buck’s neck. Buck frowned at the way Eddie had phrased it, but he knew to Eddie this was just helping a friend out, nothing more. Buck tilted his head to the side looking up at the ceiling, cradled by Eddie’s hand as the man pressed open mouthed kisses to the left side of his throat. Eddie’s other hand curled around Buck’s hip, holding him in place. Eddie’s tongue flicked out, tasting the exposed skin, before his mouth attaches to Buck’s pulse point. Buck sucked in a shallow breath, his cock already twitching to life in his boxers. Eddie sucked lightly on that spot, too afraid to suck as hard as he did on Friday night for fear of hurting Buck again. His hand moved to hold the other side of his neck, thumb stroking the hollow of his throat. He paused as his finger ran over raised skin, pulling back from Buck’s neck with a quiet pop. The area where his mouth had been glistentened pink, but his eyes fell to the scar at the center of Buck’s throat. He traced his thumb over it lightly before looking into Buck’s eyes. “When did you get this scar?” 

“Uh… My first date with Abby, I think? We went out to a fancy restaurant and I choked on a piece of bread. They had to do an emergency tracheostomy right there in the dining room. Kinda forgot it was there to be honest.” Buck’s eyes were already slightly lust- blown as he gazed into Eddie’s understanding ones. He blinked a few times as Eddie’s hand moved toward the back of his neck and pulled the hair at the nape, causing Buck’s head to be pulled back. 

“Sorry to hear that, Buck.” Eddie whispered, a harsh edge to his tone as his lips closed over the raised flesh. The scar had long since lost its sensitivity, but as Eddie traced his tongue over it, Buck could feel all of his nerve endings catch on fire. A distinctive heat settled low in his gut, slowly coiling tighter and tighter. Buck bit his lip, smothering the moans he so desperately wanted to make. His hand settled on the back of Eddie’s head, fingers curling into his hair. Eddie’s hand that had been planted on Buck’s hip, reached up to put at the neck of his favorite henley as Eddie’s started layering bruises down Buck’s collar bones. A quiet moan slipped out from Buck’s lips as Eddie nipped slightly at the skin covering his collar. Blood began rushing down to his nether regions as Eddie continued to suck on the skin below his collar bones, stretching the neck of his henley as far as down as the fabric allowed. When Eddie finally couldn’t move the fabric further down anymore, he set back with a sigh. Buck glanced at him from under his lashes, cheeks flushed pink. 

“You’re gonna have to take off your shirt.” Eddie stated, as if he was just discussing the weather. Buck shook himself from a cloud of arousal and looked at his best friend. Eddie seemed to be glaring at the material covering him as if it had personally offended him. 

“Huh?” Buck asked, confusion written all over his features. Eddie rolled his eyes and tugged at the bottom of Buck’s shirt. 

“I said, you need to take your shirt off.” Eddie huffed, pulling up Buck’s shirt and exposing his abdomen. Buck hesitated, but took Eddie's cue and pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it in the direction of the stairs. Buck looked back at Eddie with his eyebrow raised and Eddie just threw an exasperated glare at him. Eddie places his hand on Buck’s chest and pushed him until he was lying with his back on the couch. 

“What are you doing?” Buck asked, leaning on his elbows to look up at Eddie. Eddie pushed him down again, pinning Buck with a glare that made him think twice about sitting up again. Buck had to admit, this Eddie was attractive, not that any Eddie wasn’t, but  _ this  _ one who did what he wanted to Buck? Buck could feel his cock throbbing in his pants as Eddie leaned over him, his arm braced on the arm of the couch above Buck’s head. 

“You said you needed them lower, right? I figured this would be easier.” Eddie grinned down at him, radiating sunshine and Buck knew then that he’d let the man do anything he wanted to him. His cock was hard enough to cut steel, bulging in his jeans. He prayed that Eddie hadn’t noticed, but a small part of him hoped he would. And that he’d do something about it. “Just a few on the pectoral and the abs should be good, right?” 

Buck nodded, his eyes rolling up into the back of his head as Eddie started layering kisses from his collar bone, across his chest to his tattoo on his left pec. Buck felt his tongue trace the outline of the tattoo, hips almost bucking up into Eddie before Buck controlled himself. Buck’s hand came up and curled into Eddie’s hair, as Eddie’s other hand came to rest on Buck’s abs. Buck could feel his muscles contract under Eddie’s hand, as his hand moved to rest right under is left pec. Buck inhaled deeply through his mouth, heart stuttering as Eddie began sucking a bruise into his tattoo. He felt precum dribble out of his cock, dampening his underwear slightly. Eddie’s lips moved onto his right peck and bit into the meaty flesh, making sure to be more careful than last time. His thumb on Buck’s left peck started stroking the flesh before catching on something hard. He ran his thumb back over the hard flesh, scratchin the nail down it before he realized what it was. 

Buck’s eyes shot open when Eddie’s thumb first brushed over his nipple, and he bit down hard on his cheek when he’d scraped his nail across the bud to stop from releasing the deliciously desperate sound he wanted to make, a coppery taste filling his mouth. After Eddie sucked the mark onto his pec, his lips began ghosting further down over his abs, muscles contracting under his ministrations. Eddie’s tongue laved over the ridges of his stomach, and Buck knew he was close to releasing the most wanton sound of his life. As Eddie’s teeth scraped over his skin, Buck let out a loud whimper, hips canting off the couch and into Eddie’s. Eddie glanced up at Buck, his irises nothing more than a thin ring around his blown pupils. Buck met his eyes with the same intensity and desire burning in his. Eddie pulled away, leaning up into Buck’s personal space, their lips mere inches from each other, when Eddie’s phone started ringing. 

Buck almost cries out when Eddie pulled back, lips chasing after him. Eddie doesn’t notice, already sitting at the opposite end of the couch with his phone pressed to his hand. Buck pushed himself up onto his elbows, watching him, his whole body still flushed from their interaction and nerves screaming for them to continue. 

“Carla? Is everything okay with Christopher?” Upon hearing Christopher’s name, Buck is sitting up fast, watching Eddie in anticipation. Eddie’s eyes were wide with worry and concern as he listened to Carla explain the situation from the other end of the phone. Buck could see the relief spread through Eddie’s body as he nodded. “A nightmare? Okay, Carla. Tell him I’m on my way. Ye-yeah, I’ll see you soon.”

Eddie stood up from the couch after hanging up the phone, and started walking towards the front door. Buck sat confused, and a little bit forgotten before Eddie turned back and gave him a sheepish look. “I’m sorry to leave in such a rush. I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“Y-yeah. Go tend to Christopher and let me know if everything is okay.” Buck waved him out the door, collapsing back against the couch as his body shuddered with arousal. His cock was still pulsating in his pants, precum coating the insides of his boxers. His hand quivered as he reached down to unbuckle his belt and free himself from the confines of his pants. The head of his cock was sensitive, flushed red and weeping. Buck wrapped his hand around the base of his cock firmly, trembling with pleasure as he gave himself a few strokes. He swirled his thumb across his slit, hips jerking as he spread the precum around. 

Buck exhaled shakily, head thrown back against the couch cushion as his body lurched from his firm strokes. In his mind, it wasn’t his hand on his dick, but Eddie’s warm mouth sucking at the head of his cock. Words tumbled out of his mouth, telling imaginary Eddie how good his tongue felt and how he couldn’t wait to cum in his mouth. Eddie responded by looking up at him from under his lashes, swirling his tongue around the head. Buck’s hips jerked into Eddie’s mouth, his cock hitting the back of his throat. Eddie swallowed around him, pulling off to place open mouthed kisses along the shaft. Buck shivered, his hand passing over the head of his cock and wetting his hand. Eddie rested the head of Buck’s cock on his lips, tongue peeking out to dip into his slit, catching beads of precum. After a minute he dropped Buck’s dick, tongue licking a path up to his nipples. Imaginary Eddie nipped at the sensitive flesh, sucking it into his mouth and rolling his tongue over it. Eddie’s hand came up to twist and pull at Buck’s other nipple, before switching off and returning the favor to the other one. 

The heat continued to tighten in his gut as he reached up with the hand not on himself, to scrape his fingernail against his nipple. He pinched at it, much like imaginary Eddie, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger. Buck mewled at the sensation, remembering the feeling of Eddie’s mouth earlier. The hand on his dick sped up, chasing his orgasm as the pressure continued to build. In his imagination, he opened his eyes to glance down at Eddie, who’s smirking at him as he swallows down around his cock again, lips red and glistening with spit. Imaginary Eddie pops off his dick and grins at him, stroking Buck until he comes across his face, tongue sliding out to catch a few stray beads. Buck digs his heels into the couch at the image as a guttural moan escapes him, the hand on his nipple moving to the large bruise on his neck and pressing down. The sudden pressure caused Buck to cant his hips, essentially fucking into his hand. He snapped his hips desperately into his hand, pressing down further on his mark with the memory of Eddie’s mouth pushing him to the edge. The coil of pleasure in his gut sprang, releasing all over his hand and chest. He wished it was Eddie’s hand or face instead, his friend’s dark eyes lingering in his memory. 

Buck sat in the afterglow of his orgasm, collapsing back against the couch with limp limbs. He could feel the cum cooling and drying on his chest, but he was too worried about what he’d just done that lead to the mess rather than the actual mess. It wasn’t the first time he’d had sexual thoughts about his best friend, but those had always been one offs that just happened to pop into his head unwillingly. And those would always get pushed to the back of his mind, never to be seeked out again. But after having Eddie’s mouth on his skin, Eddie leaning over him, and looking at him the way he did tonight, eyes dark with something Buck desperately wanted to call desire, he knew he couldn’t continue hiding his feelings from himself. The realization was a heavy one, but a part of him felt as if an invisible weight had been lifted off of him at the thought. Buck started to stretch, but gave up as his limbs flopped uselessly on the couch, eyelids suddenly heavy and drooping. His last thought before slipping into a post-orgasm coma was that Eddie never needed to find out, because he never wanted to lose the friendship they had. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! These next few chapter may be a long time coming because of work and school! Have no fear though because I have this entire thing planned out and intend to see it though!   
> Again, please leave any comments you have! I enjoy reading them!
> 
> xx


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks once again to [Zel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpaperheartso/profile) for the help! And a big ass thanks to everyone on the discord! SEAL! Buck makes a special appearance in this thanks to y'all!
> 
> In all honesty this whole chapter was unplanned and came completely outta the blue, so I hope y'all enjoy it! It's one of my favorites!

Buck stood in the locker room showers, washing away the stress of a long day after his shift. Not only was it filled with outrageous emergencies, but Buck was semi- avoiding all of his coworkers. Not that they had done anything, but he was avoiding Eddie and wanted to make it less obvious. Buck had startled awake earlier that morning, as sunlight streamed in through his windows, with dried cum on his chest and the thought of what he’d done. He’d jacked off to thoughts of the man that was supposed to be his best friend. A man who had a son and a dead wife. A man who was straight and felt no attraction to him whatsoever. 

Buck thought back to earlier in the day when Bobby had ordered him and Eddie to clean the ladder truck, while Chim and Hen restocked the med truck. They’d pulled the ladder truck out to the back of the station to hose it down, which would have been no problem, except it was an extremely hot day even by L.A. standards. Due to the sweltering heat, Eddie had decided it was the perfect time to take off his shirt as they sprayed down the truck. Buck had struggled to keep his eyes from straying to the god-like body of the other firefighter, mind vividly reliving the fantasy from the night before. Buck’s cock began hardening against his thigh, and he could have hit himself for thinking about that moment again. He reached out and turned the water to freezing, hoping to kill his erection before it became too much of a problem. 

Once his erection was taken care of, Buck didn’t want to waste any time getting to his locker to change and leave for the day. As he stepped out of the shower, he could see Eddie stepping out of his own, a towel resting low on his hips. Their eyes met and Eddie grinned, eyes raking over Buck’s body where all of his hickies stood on display. 

“Hey, man.” Eddie said, moving to grab the handle for the locker room door and holding it open. Buck walked through, making his way to his locker as Eddie followed. He opened his locker, waiting until he heard Eddie open his own before dropping his towel. Quickly, he grabbed his underwear from his duffel bag and pulled them on before doing the same with his jeans. He turned to look over his shoulder when he heard the click of Eddie’s locker. 

“So, I know you’ve kind of been avoiding me today,” Eddie started, and Buck thought  _ Oh shit, he noticed.  _ “But are we still doing Buckley- Diaz Movie Night or did you wanna hold off?” 

Buck smacked himself upside the head, he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about his promise to Christopher last week. He briefly thought about making up some excuse to get out of it, but he knew Eddie would see right through any lie he came up with. Plus, Buck really didn’t want to disappoint Christopher, who had been waiting forever to see this movie. “Ye-yeah, I’ll meet you at your place. Want me to pick up pizza on the way?” 

“Yeah, that would be perfect actually. I have to pick up Chris from Abuela’s house so you’ll probably get there before me.” Eddie had finished getting dressed and stood by with his duffel bag on his shoulder. “You good to let yourself in?” 

“Yeah, man I still have the spare. I’ll get the pizzas and get everything set up. See ya at yours, man.” Buck replied, pulling his shirt over his head. Eddie clapped him on the shoulder before moving towards the exit and waving goodbye. Buck rolled his eyes but finished gathering all of his stuff and made his own way out of the station. 

Eddie wasn’t wrong in saying that Buck would beat them back to his house, even with having to wait for the pizzas. Holding the boxes in one hand, Buck struggled to find Eddie’s key before he finally located it. Buck drops the pizza down on the kitchen counter once he got in the house, making sure to get the plates and drinks ready as well. He set out a juice pouch for Christopher and grabbed two beers out of the fridge for him and Eddie. Buck opened up the one, and took a big gulp out of it, before settling down in one of the dining chairs to wait on his boys. 

It wasn’t long before the front door opened once again, and the unmistakable clicks of Christopher’s crutches against the hardwood floor. Buck grabbed the other beer, opening it up for Eddie, turning towards him and Christopher once they made their way into the kitchen. Christopher crashed into his legs, arms coming up to wrap around him. 

“Hey, Chris. How was school?” Buck asked, carding his hand through the boy’s soft curls. Christopher looked up at his with wide eyes and a soft smile. 

“It was awesome! We made ice cream in Ms. Heanny’s class and we got to eat it. And then we got to do paper mache in art class!” Christopher started rambling on about his project that he was making, still holding on to Buck’s legs and smiling up at him. Buck was listening with utmost attention, but looked up at Eddie from up underneath his lashes, noticing him looking at them fondly. “Oh yeah! And Miss Young said that she wished you’d pick me up from school more! She misses you!”

Buck shared a look with Eddie, who looked to be trying to choke back a laugh. Buck remembered Miss Young very well from the few times he’s picked Christopher up at school. She always made a point to come over and talk to him, placing her hands on his arm or giving him suggestive looks. She was also the main reason Buck tried to avoid picking Christopher from school anymore, no matter how much he loved getting to spend time with the boy. 

“Come on, Chris.” Eddie said, distracting him from the fact that Buck still hadn’t responded to his comments about Miss Young. “Let’s go ahead and eat this pizza, so we can get the movie started.”

“Okay, Dad!” Christopher finally let go of Buck’s legs, walking towards the table as Eddie made up his plate. Buck made up his own plate and grabbed their drinks to bring to the table as Eddie followed behind him. Buck sat the drinks down and took the seat across from Christopher and Eddie took the seat between the two of them at the round dining table.

“So Christopher,” Buck started, after taking a bite of his pizza. The boy looked up at him, a string of cheese hanging from his mouth, still connected to the pizza. Buck smiled fondly at the boy before he continued. “Are you excited to see the movie?”

Christopher nodded his head enthusiastically, swallowing his bite of pizza. “Johnathan said it was really good! And we have a trip to the aquarium soon so we can see the real Dory!” 

“Alright, buddy! That sound super fun and exciting! I love the aquarium!” Buck shoved the last bite of his pizza in his mouth, before standing up to grab more. Christopher kept rambling on about the different types of sea creatures he was excited to see at the aquarium, while Buck reminisced about the time he took Christopher to the zoo. He smiled fondly at the memory of the boy’s excitement over animals as he sat back down at the table. Buck continued listening to Christopher as he continued eating his third slice of pizza. 

“Bucky,” Christopher asked, dragging Buck’s attention fully to him. He smiled softly at the boy, urging him to continue. “C-can you come to my aquarium trip? Dad says he’s got-gotta work but that I could ask you?” 

Buck beamed at the boy, knowing he would be more than willing to accompany the boy on his trip. Not only did he love the aquarium, but he couldn’t wait to see the amazement on Christopher’s face as he gazed at the various creatures. He reached across the small table and ruffled his hair, the boy laughing and pushing his hand away. “I would absolutely love to go with you, bud. Just tell me when!” 

“Thanks, Bucky!” Christopher was bouncing in his seat, clearly delighted as Eddie grabbed his plate to get him another slice of pizza. Buck took a huge bite out of his own piece, chewing it as his eyes watched Eddie move toward the pizza boxes. Eddie’s back was to him, providing him with a perfect view of his ass. Eddie turned around all to quickly, two plates of pizza in his hands, and Buck averted his eyes. He took a sip of his beer, washing down the remnants of his last bite. 

“Hey, Buck.” Buck turned towards Eddie, acknowledging him with a questioning gaze. “You -uh- got a little sauce on your bottom lip.” Eddie motioned in the general area, and Buck stuck his tongue out trying to lick it up. His eyes met Eddie’s again, but Eddie just rolled his eyes and huffed. He reached out to grasp Buck’s chin, using his thumb to brush along Buck’s bottom lip. 

Buck gasped as Eddie’s thumb made contact with his bottom lip, his tongue peeking out to trace its path. His eyes shot up to Eddie’s watching as Eddie sucked the sauce covered finger into his mouth. Buck quickly hid the moan creeping out of his throat by shoving another bite of pizza in his mouth, flicking his eyes back down to his plate. His cock twitched in his pants, but thankfully decided to stay quiet after that. The three of them continued to eat the rest of their pizza in silence, polishing off the two boxes that Buck had brought.

Once everyone was finished, Eddie handed a napkin to Christopher who used it to wipe both his hands and his face himself as Buck went off to start the movie in the living room. Buck had just gotten it to the main loading menu when he heard the clicks of Christopher’s crutches making their way into the living room. He watched fondly as the boy moved towards the couch, choosing to sit next to him, and curling into Buck’s side. Buck placed an arm around the boy and pulled him closer, relishing the unconditional love he felt from the child. He didn’t grow up in a family where affection was handed out willingly, and to be able to experience these moments with someone he loved like a son, it filled Buck’s heart with warmth. Buck looked behind him, noticing Eddie leaned up against the door jam and staring at the two of them with an adoring look on his face. Buck grinned at him, motioning for him to join them on the couch with a wave of his hand. 

Eddie smiled, moving around the couch to join them, sitting on the other side of Christopher. Buck hit the play button, the movie starting instantaneously. Christopher snuggled in closer to Buck, and he just smiled down at the boy and soaked in the closeness. A few minutes into the movie, Eddie placed his arm across the back of the couch. Slowly, Eddie started brushing his fingers up and down the back of Buck’s neck. While it felt relaxing, ever nerve fiber in Buck’s body seemed to be connected to that one area, and every single one of them was on fire. A shiver went down Buck’s spine, as he struggled to pay attention to the movie, breath coming a little faster than before. He glanced down at Christopher who was completely enamored with the movie and oblivious to Buck’s buzzing skin. Glancing back up at the screen, Buck tried to ignore the sensations coursing through his body as Eddie continued lightly touching the back of his neck.Buck was finding it difficult to focus on the movie, the screen blurry as he fought to keep his eyes open. Finally though, he gave into the lulling sensation, closing his eyes as he fell into a slumber. 

Not much later, Buck felt movement as he blinked his eyes open. He quickly glanced around, noticing the movie credits playing through. He felt movement again and looked over to see Eddie crouching down to pick Christopher up from where he was still curled into Buck. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you!” Eddie whispered, moving to stand up with Christopher cradled to his shoulder. Christopher made a sleepy noise, wrapping his arms around his father’s neck. “I’ll be right back, I’m gonna put him to bed.”

Buck nodded and stood up, placing a hand on Christopher’s back and kissing his head. Christopher mumbled against Eddie’s neck. “Goodnight, my Bucky. Love you.”

Buck grinned, eyes flicking to meet Eddie’s who was looking at his boy fondly. Buck kissed Christopher’s head again. “I love you too, buddy. Sweet dreams.” 

Buck stepped back and removed his hand from Christopher’s back, watching Eddie turn around and head in the direction of Christopher’s room. Buck watched after them until they were no longer in sight, deciding to make himself useful and turn off the movie. Buck then made his way to the linen closet to grab his sheets for the couch, ready to assemble his bed like he normally did. He had just finished placing the fitted sheet over the couch, when Eddie walked back into the living room. 

“Oh man, I meant to tell you.” Eddie started. Buck looked up and saw him leaning against the door jam, his arms crossed. “The couch has a few broken springs that’ll be hell on your back. I was gonna ask if you wanted to just share my bed tonight since it’s big enough for two.” 

“Y-yeah, that’d be good.” Buck replied, removing the sheets from the couch and moving to place them back in the closet. He walked back over towards Eddie, bumping shoulders with him as he made his was towards Eddie’s bedroom. He turned back around to glance at Eddie. “Hey, did you ever get a chance to wash my clothes? I think I ran out of pajamas last time.”

“Shit! I haven’t had time to do laundry yet.” Eddie smacked his forehead and Buck just laughed, hanging back and slinging an arm around his best friends shoulders. They continued walking towards Eddie’s room, the first door on the right after the entrance to the kitchen. “You can just borrow some sweatpants? Is that good?” 

“Yeah, man. Thanks.” They walked into Eddie’s bedroom, Eddie heading straight for his dresser and getting out two pairs of sweatpants. Buck flicked on the overhead light switch, casting the room in a fluorescent glow. Eddie tossed a pair of sweatpants to Buck, and started taking his shirt off. Buck stared at him confused for a moment, thinking that they’d obviously change separately before remembering that they change in front of each other everyday at work. He quickly stripped off his shirt, hands moving to remove his belt when Eddie turned to look at him. 

“Did you need a t-shirt as well?” Eddie asked, eyes trailing up Buck’s torso taking in the still healing bruises. Eddie started pulling his belt through his own pants, Buck’s eyes following the movement. 

“I’m already uh- a little overheated. Do you mind if I forego the shirt tonight?” Once Buck finally shucked his jeans off, he started pulling on the sweatpants Eddie had handed him. The material was super soft, obviously being well worn. He folded his pants and placed them on the floor, doing the same with this shirt. When he stood up from his bent position, he found Eddie already pulling back the covers from his bed.

“Nah, go ahead.” Eddie answered him, plugging his phone in and shuffling under the covers. Buck heard his phone ping from his jeans and he bent back down to grab it out of his back pocket. He reached over to flick the light switch back off, grinning down at the message displayed across his phone screen. He made his way back over to the bed, climbing in beside Eddie and typing out a response message. 

“What’s got you all excited?” Eddie asked, turning on his side to look at Buck. Buck placed his phone face down on the nightstand, burrowing into the covers and turning to mirror Eddie’s position in the bed. 

“That woman, Claire.” Buck started, rolling his eyes when Eddie just gave him a confused look. “From the bar and the supermarket? Anyway, she accepted my invite to get coffee tomorrow.”

“Oh, you guys hang out?” Eddie questioned, something dark blazing in his eyes. 

“No, not really. I just invited her to coffee as a thank you for helping with the whole ‘letting people think we fucked’ thing. Plus she seems really nice, so I wanted to get to know her.” Buck said, snuggling deeper into the blankets. Eddie reached over the small expanse of open space and pushed at Buck’s shoulder. 

“And where is my coffee date then, asshole!” Eddie admonished, sending a half- hearted glare. Buck chuckled, his body shaking with the movement. Eddie reached over and playfully shoved his shoulder again. “I’m not kidding!” 

“Relax, man!” Buck reached over and pinched Eddie’s side, causing him to slap Buck’s hand when he cringed away from the ticklish sensation. “I think you deserve something more than just a coffee for your contributions.”

“You’re damn right I do!” Eddie said, rolling away from Buck’s hand as it crept toward him again in an effort to truly tickle him. He smacked his hand again, and Buck finally retreated, keeping his hands to himself. “I demand at least a steak dinner! With dessert attached. No fucking skimping.” 

“Whatever you want, man. Just name your price and you got it.” Buck said, staring into his best friend’s eyes. Eddie lifted his head and rested it on his hand, bringing the other up to rub at his chin thoughtfully.

“I want a single favor that I can cash in at any time. No limits to what it is.” Eddie said after a moment of silence. Buck rolled his eyes, but nodded his head agreeing to the terms. “And I want you to rub my back.” 

“What? Right now?” Buck whined, he had no qualms about rubbing Eddie’s back but he was comfortable in his spot and didn’t want to move. Eddie nodded and Buck groaned, pushing the covers off himself and sitting next to his best friend. Eddie grinned up at him, turning to lie on his stomach as Buck just glared at him playfully. Buck pulled the covers down until they only covered the lower half of Eddie’s body, moving to straddle the back of his thighs. He rubbed his hands together to warm them up, before placing them on Eddie’s shoulders and grasping the flesh. He kneaded the warm skin with his fingers, digging his thumbs into the tense muscles. Eddie stiffened for a moment, but eventually breathed out a low moan as he relaxed into Buck’s touch. Buck tried to let the noise escape his notice, knowing that it was a product of the undoing tense muscles. Buck moved to work his thumbs along Eddie’s spine, feeling over each notch of his spinal disks. His thumbs rubbed deep into the muscles of his spine, pulling another satisfied sound from Eddie’s throat. His hands shifted to relax the muscles under his shoulder blades, working the hard muscles until they became soft and loose. 

Buck had a sudden idea, and smirked to himself before his hands trailed down to Eddie’s side softly, pausing. He could feel Eddie’s body twitch from the gentle touch and his fingers moved to dig into Eddie’s side. Eddie’s body spasmed as he barked out a laugh, trying his best to twist away from Buck’s wandering fingers. Buck laughed at Eddie, continuing to drive his fingers into Eddie’s side as he tried desperately to get away. 

Suddenly, Buck found himself flipped onto his back with Eddie straddling his lap and his fingers burrowing into Buck’s side. Buck squealed with laughter, hips bucking off the bed in an attempt to dislodge Eddie. Buck looked at the man sitting on top of him, a huge grin spread across his face as he watched Buck try to avoid his fingers. Eddie’s hands skated across Buck’s abdomen, digging into the hard flesh of his abs. Buck rolled from side to side, giggles erupting as Eddie found his most ticklish spots. One of Eddie’s hands came up to burrow his fingers into the crease of Buck’s neck, as he shrieked at the sensation. 

One of Buck’s arms broke free and rose up to reach under Eddie’s armpit, attempting to return the attack. Eddie barked out a laugh, throwing his head back. His hand shot out as Buck reached out to skim his hand across Eddie’s abs, grabbing a hold of him and pinning Buck’s hand above his head. That still didn’t stop Buck from trying his counter attack, his other hand coming to attack his sides. Eddie’s body lurched to the side, seeking shelter from Buck’s fingers. His other hand shot out and pinned Buck’s hand next to the other one, maneuvering so he was holding both of them in one hand. Buck’s eyes widened and his breath hitched as he took in the devilishly mischievous grin Eddie flashed at him. Eddie’s hand trailed softly down Buck’s chest, gliding over his abs, and diving into his side. Buck howled, body trying to jerk away from Eddie’s touch. Tears streamed out of his eyes, his cheeks glistening red as he laughed with mirth. 

“Mercy! Mercy!” Buck called, still trying to shift from Eddie’s fingers. Eddie laughed but stopped torturing him, releasing his hands and collapsing back on the bed beside them. Their shoulders and forearms brushed as they both tried to catch their breath. Buck turned to look at Eddie with a smile on his face, breath still coming out in pant. “Dude! I almost pissed myself there for a minute!”

That statement sent Eddie into another fit of laughter, Buck soon joining him as their bodies shook trying to hold the giggles in. Buck rested his head on Eddie’s shoulder, his eyes clenched shut as tears continued to wet his cheeks. “Buck, man. You’re almost 30 years old! You really started a tickle fight?”

“You’re older than me!” Buck stated, leaning up to look at Eddie. Eddie was staring up at the ceiling, until he shifted his eyes to meet Buck’s. Eddie let out a short laugh. 

“Y-yeah, but I didn’t start it!” Eddie exclaimed, reaching up to pinch Buck’s side. Buck squirmed away from the touch, slapping a hand on Eddie’s chest. “I just finished it!” 

“What? You think I couldn’t take you?” Buck looked affronted, scowling down at Eddie. Eddie beamed up at him, mischief swirling deep in his eyes. All at once, Buck found his hands pressed above his head again. Eddie leaned over him, straddling his hips, and gazing into his eyes.

“Oh, Evan.” Eddie sighed, Buck trying not to let the sound of his name coming from those lips take effect on his body. Eddie raised his eyebrow, smirking down at him. “You think you could take me? I hate to tell you, but that will never happen.”

“You think so?” Buck asked, amusement clear in his features. Eddie disregarded the look, shifting his weight on top of Buck. 

“I know so.” Eddie winked, slowly licking his lips. Buck fluttered his eyelashes at Eddie, eyes tracking the movement of his tongue. Buck flashed Eddie a grin, causing the man to blink. Within that split second of a blink, Eddie found himself on his stomach with the full weight of Buck heavy against his back. Eddie’s eyes widened as he tried to move his hands, but found them bound in one of Buck’s against the small of his back. He tried to press up and dislodge Buck from his back, huffing out a breath when he found out he couldn’t move. Buck’s knees pressed down into Eddie’s thighs, rendering his legs useless. 

Buck leaned up on an arm placed by Eddie’s head, and placed his mouth beside Eddie’s ear, feeling him swallow down a gulp. He grinned against the skin of his neck, breath hot and wet. He shifted his weight against Eddie’s back. “You were saying?”

“O-okay! I get it! You can take me!” Eddie exclaimed, tapping his fingers against Buck’s hand in a gesture of submission. Buck quickly released his hands and rolled off of Eddie, landing on his back beside him. Eddie continued to lie on his stomach, turning his head to face Buck. He stared at his best friend for a moment in amazement. “So… um- where did you learn that move? That was some army type shit.”

“I was in SEAL training for awhile.” Buck answered, turning on his side to face Eddie. 

“You never told me you served?” Buck could see the confusion plastered across Eddie’s face. He found the expression rather cute, which was not an adjective he often used in relation with the man. 

“Because I didn’t. They told me I was unsuited for being a SEAL.” Buck’s stare dropped to the bed spread, reminiscing about the day his training officer told him he wasn’t what they were looking for. It was both one of the worst and best days of his life, because it ultimately lead to him finding the 118. He’s eyes flicked back up to meet Eddie’s. “My training officer said I was too emotional for the job. That because I couldn’t turn off my emotions, I was unfit to be a SEAL. He was the one to suggest joining the fire academy, saying that it might be better suited to me.”

“Oh,” Eddie said, the new information shedding a light on a side of Buck he never knew. He reached out and place a hand on Buck’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “I’d say I’m sorry it didn’t work out but that would be a lie. I’m glad you didn’t make it because then I never would have met you.”

“I doubt that.” Buck smiled at him, reaching over to pinch Eddie’s side. “I think we were destined to meet each other. You and Christopher are my family, I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.”

Eddie smiled at him fondly, his own lashes fluttering as he looked down at Buck’s lips. Buck tracked the movement with his own eyes, as Eddie cleared his throat. Eddie removed his hand from Buck’s arm, curling it under his own body. “Maybe we should get some sleep before you make me cry, alright?” 

Buck rolled his eyes, but turned to shut of the lamp on his side of the bed, casting the room in darkness. He reached down and pulled the covers back over both him and Eddie, having been pushed nearly on the floor from them rolling around. He borrowed into the covers, turning around with his back to Eddie. “If you need to, you can cry now. No one can see you.”

“Goodnight Buck.” Eddie chuckled, the movement shaking the bed. Eddie turned onto his side himself, back to back with Buck. Buck mumbled a  _ Goodnight Eddie  _ back, closing his eyes against the darkness and falling asleep. 

Hours later, Buck slowly drifted back into consciousness, registering a warm, hard body pressed against his back. With his brain still operating in sleep mode, he pressed back firmly into the body to seek more of the warmth it exuded. It wasn’t until he was met with a hard cock pressed into his ass and a hungry groan in his ear that he realized where he was. His eyes shot open as Eddie’s hand wound around his stomach and pulled his body even closer to his own, toned abs flush against his back. Buck willed his breath to even out as he took stock of the current situation. From the sounds coming from the man behind him, he seemed to still be asleep, thankfully. Their legs were entangled under the covers and their bodies flush against each other.

Buck quickly tried to assess how he could remove himself from Eddie’s grasp without waking the man up. He tried to slide out from under his arm, but it only caused him to pull Buck in closer again. Buck sighed, not seeing any way out of Eddie’s hold, praying that the exchange wouldn’t be too awkward come morning. He closed his eyes and tried to drift back to sleep, when he felt lips pressing against the back of his neck. 

“You feel so good, cariño. I can’t wait to be inside you.” Eddie whispered into his neck as he continued to place open mouthed kisses along Buck’s neck and shoulders. Buck’s eyes flew open once more as Eddie started rolling his hips, cock fitting into place on his ass. It wasn’t too hard to tell that Eddie was experiencing a particularly filthy dream, and with each brush of Eddie’s lips any attempt to sleep was immediately foiled. By their own violation, his hips started pressing back against Eddie’s. Eddie moaned at the contact as he moved his hand to Buck’s hip. It took everything in Buck’s power to stop his hips from rolling back, even with Eddie’s encouraging hands on his hips. Buck’s hand grasped the sheets by his head, his knuckles white. “Mierda, cariño. I… fuck - I love it when you ride me! Dios mio! The so-sounds you make!” Eddie panted into his neck, warmth from each puff of breath spreading down Buck’s spine.

With his eyes squeezed shut, Buck sucked on his bottom lip, trying to keep his moans at bay. God, how he wished Eddie was awake so he could know what he was doing. So he could see how hard he was making Buck’s dick, and how much Buck wanted to just turn into his arms and kiss him awake. Eddie snapped his hips into Buck, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he let out a low whine. Buck turned his face into his pillow as Eddie continued to snap his hips against Buck’s ass. Eddie began peppering more kisses along Buck’s shoulder, before biting into the hard flesh. Buck keened, precum leaking out of his dick as he tried desperately to keep hold of his control. 

“Don’t hide those sounds from me, cariño. I want to hear you!” Eddie growls, biting harder into Buck’s shoulder. Buck whimpered into his pillow, body shuddering as he bit his lip until blood filled his mouth. The precum leaked steadily out of Buck’s cock, wetting his underwear and no doubt leaving a wet spot on Eddie’s sweatpants. Eddie’s rolling hips were speeding up, his hold on Buck’s hip tightening. Slowly his hand started trailing across Buck’s abs, dragging lower until his fingers were dipping into the waistband of his pants. Buck’s hand shot out and grabbed Eddie’s wrist, effectively stopping him before he touched his dick. Eddie huffed in discontent, before twisting his hand to grab Buck’s in a firm hold. “Mierda, mi amor! I’m so cl-close! Gon-gonna fill you up!”

Suddenly, Eddie’s breath hitched and his body shuddered against Buck. Buck felt the heat of Eddie’s cum spreading through his pants, and moaned at the feeling. In his entire life, Buck never thought he would know what Eddie sounded like as he came, but now he had witnessed it first hand, had some small part in it, even though Eddie was unaware and just using the nearest body. This, Buck knew, was going to be something that haunted his thoughts and fantasies for many nights to come.

Teetering on the edge of pleasure, Buck willed his body to calm down. He thought of everything under the sun to erase the pleasure still coursing through him, until he finally settled on the worst thing his mind could come up with. Bobby and Chimney washing the fire truck in bikinis. It was a sure fire way to make any man’s testicles curl up into their body. Once that situation was rectified, Buck curled into the heat of Eddie and closed his eyes. Thankfully, sleep came as easily as it had before and he drifted off wrapped in Eddie’s embrace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, how'd it go? Did you like it? 
> 
> Like I said it's by far my favorite chapter! These two were so soft and the tickle fight? Phenomenal! They honestly wrote themselves! 
> 
> As always, please tell me what you think in the comments! And If you all have anything you want me to add to this story, or any prompts for future things send me a message/ ask on my tumblr [asteroidbill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/asteroidbill)! I will start posting snips of new chapters over there as well!
> 
> xx


	4. Part Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy this chapter! It's definitely more of a filler chapter, but has a lot of feels! 
> 
> As always thanks to my beta [Zel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpaperheartso/profile)!

The next time Buck woke up, it was to sunlight streaming in through the window. This time however, instead of having Eddie attached to his back, his head was resting on Eddie’s chest. Their legs were still entangled, the blanket twisted around them. Eddie’s arm was wrapped around Buck’s shoulders, fingers gliding up and down the skin. Buck closed his eyes, face turning in Eddie’s chest as he smiled in contentment . As he snuggled closer, ready to sleep a little longer, he felt rather than heard Eddie chuckle, his chest moving with the sound. Buck’s eyes shot open as he slowly raised his eyes to meet Eddie’s. Eddie was wide awake, staring down at the man who was sleeping against his chest. 

“I should have known you’d be the cuddly type.” Eddie joked, chest still shuddering with laughter. Buck’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he groaned, flopping back onto the bed beside Eddie. 

“Shut up!” Buck stated, slapping a hand across Eddie’s chest as he continued to laugh. Buck threw his arm over his face, trying to hide his own laughter. Eddie rolled over to his side, his arm still under Buck’s back from where he rolled over it in his attempt to get away from Eddie. 

“Hey, I didn’t say I minded! At least you’re warm!” Eddie responded. He threw his other arm around Buck and pulled him back into his side. Buck responded by thrashing around and pushing against him as they laughed together. Finally, Eddie released him and Buck settled back leaning his head against Eddie’s shoulder. 

“You know.” Buck started, his head to glance up at Eddie. His eyelashes fluttered as he glared at him. “I should be the big spoon, since I’m taller than you.” 

“That is not how it works, Evan.” Eddie rolled his eyes, reaching over to flick him on the forehead. Buck flinched and smacked at his hand. Eddie looked him up and down. “And it doesn’t look like you’re complaining too much.” 

“God, you are annoying.” Buck stated, pinching Eddie in the side and laughing when he squirmed away from the touch. “So, pray tell, Edmundo. How does one become the big spoon?” 

“The big spoon is the more dominant one, obviously.”

“Oh really? Because I think we proved that was me last night.” Buck smirked at Eddie, raising his eyebrows. His eyes twinkled with mischief as he remembered the night before. Eddie rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah. You just caught me off guard.” Eddie pinched Buck’s arm and Buck scowled at him. Eddie just smiled at his sweetly. “Won’t happen again.” 

Buck continued scowling as he leaned up on his elbow to stare down at Eddie. “Oh really, you wanna go again? Because I can still take your ass down.” 

“Fine, Fine! I’m too tired to fight you again.” Eddie said, eyes rolling and his hands held in the universal sign of surrender. Happy that he had once again bested him, Buck grinned down at him. He reached out and flicked Eddie on the forehead just as he had done earlier. “You can be the big spoon.” 

Buck dropped down and settled back into the crook of Eddie’s arm, turning his body into Eddie’s side and placing his arm across his chest. He snuggled deeper into Eddie’s warmth before glancing up at him from up under his lashes. He smiled at him and fluttered his lashes. “That’s okay, I like being the little spoon more.” 

Eddie laughed and pinched his arm, squeezing him tighter to his body. The two of them laid together in bed, basking in the morning sun like house cats.. Eddie’s fingers were drawing circles on Buck’s arm, and Buck could feel himself getting way too comfortable. In this position, he could feel his body starting to react to Eddie’s touch. His cock started filling up, and he knew Eddie would be able to feel it against his thigh if he didn’t move soon. Buck groaned, reluctantly removing himself from Eddie’s side and rolling out of the bed. He picked up his phone from the side table and took a look at the time, noting it was already a late morning. 

“I gotta start getting ready for that coffee thing.” Buck told Eddie, tossing his phone back on the nightstand. Eddie leaned up on his elbows and stared at Buck, a sad smile on his face. He reached up and scratched his chest, as Buck stared at him. With Eddie looking at him like that, it took everything for Buck to not crawl back in that bed and spend the rest of his life cuddled up to him. 

“Yeah, I... uh- forgot about that. How long till you guys meet?” Eddie’s head was cocked to the side as he looked at Buck. 

“A little over an hour I think?” Buck answered, pulling open the door to Eddie’s room. He walked across the hall to the bathroom, ready to brush the nasty feeling out of his mouth. As he started brushing his teeth, he felt a presence behind him and looked into the mirror. Eddie stood slightly behind him, leaning into his side to grab his own toothbrush. In the reflection of the mirror, Eddie caught his eyes and smirked. It felt too domestic, what they were doing. Brushing their teeth together. To Buck, it seemed like a gesture only done by people in committed relationships. 

Buck didn’t voice his concerns, but just smiled back at Eddie’s reflection. He leaned down to the sink to spit out a mouthful of foam. As he stood back up, Eddie lent down to do the same and as he leaned back up, his eyes caught on Buck’s shoulder. Buck could see the moment when Eddie’s eyes shift down to the dark mark on his shoulder, his own eyebrow quirking up as he just noticed it for the first time. 

“Hmm.” Buck watched as Eddie reached out and pressed his thumb into the mark. The pressure sent the nerve endings of Buck’s body on fire, blazing shocks rocketing straight to his cock. He leaned on the edge of the sink to keep his knees from buckling under him. Buck’s mind flashed back to the events of the night before; the feeling of Eddie pressed against his back, his mouth against his skin. He took a deep breath to try and reign in his arousal. Eddie met his eyes in the mirror, as his thumb traced the outline of the mark. His eyes were swirling with confusion, and something more. “I don’t remember leaving this one. Seems pretty fresh though.” 

“Yeah, I uh- I’m not entirely sure where that came from.” Buck turned around to face Eddie, leaning back against the sink. Eddie smiled at him and leaned into his space, causing Buck’s breath to hitch. Eddie reached behind him and placed his toothbrush back in its rightful place, taking a step back to flash a giant grin at Buck. 

“I think it’s about time to get Christopher up, so I’ll leave you to get ready for your date.” Eddie winked at him, moving back into the hallway towards Christopher’s room. Buck breathed a sigh of relief, turning back around and rinsing his mouth out. 

Buck made his way back towards Eddie’s bedroom, chucking off the sweatpants he’d borrowed from Eddie the night before. He stripped off his boxers as well, planning to go commando rather than wear the cum stained underwear for another day. Buck bent down to grab his clothes, stepping into the jeans before bringing the shirt up to his nose and sniffing. While it didn’t smell awful, it still held a stench to it and he didn’t want to meet up with Claire with a stench clinging to him. He dropped it in the other pile of clothes at his feet and moved towards Eddie’s closet. Searching through Eddie’s clothes, Buck pulled out a maroon henley and looked it over. He pulled it over his head, twisting his arms to get the fabric sitting right. It was a little on the small side, but it would have to work in a pinch. 

Buck grabbed his phone off the nightstand, stashing it in his pocket, and picked up his pile of dirty clothes. Turning off the lights, Buck made his way out of Eddie’s bedroom and towards the laundry room that was placed off the kitchen. In the kitchen, Christopher was sitting at the dining table with a glass of milk in his hands. When he saw Buck, his eyes lit up. “Morning, Bucky! Are you gonna make us pancakes for breakfast?” 

“Goodmorning, Christopher! Did you have a good night?” Buck made his way around the small table, stopping to ruffle Christopher’s hair and leaned down to place a small kiss on his forehead. Christopher nodded. “And I’m sorry, kiddo, I can’t stay for breakfast today.” 

Buck continued into the laundry area, placing his dirty clothes in the basket. When he turned back towards the kitchen, he could see the look of disappointment flash across Christopher’s face. That look was like a stab to his heart that had him pulling his phone from his pocket to check the time. He could  _ technically  _ do it but it might make him a few minutes late. 

Buck quickly made his way back to Christopher and reached around to tickle the boy. Christopher laughed, a grin erasing the frown that was previously marking his face, and tried to squirm away from Buck’s searching fingers. Buck stopped his assault, glad that he had made the boy smile. His hand came up to push Christopher’s curls back as the boy craned his head to look up at him. Buck smiled down at him, leaning down to place another peck on his forehead. “I’m sorry I can’t stay and eat with you, Chris, but whaddaya say about me still making you pancakes?” 

“Yes! Please, Bucky!” Christopher grinned up at him as Buck dropped another kiss on his head because this kid was too damn precious. 

“You got it kid.” Buck pushed up the sleeves of his borrowed shirt and made his way to the Diaz pantry. Once he had all the necessary ingredients gathered, he turned back to look at Christopher. “Blueberry or chocolate chips?”

“Both!?” Christopher exclaimed, his eyes bright as he beamed at Buck. Buck just chuckled and flicked a bit of flour in Christopher’s direction. Christopher giggled, wiping the flour off his face as Buck started mixing the pancake batter together. Christopher kept up a steady stream of commentary as Buck folded the blueberries and chocolate chips in, dropping in comments when it was appropriate. 

Eddie finally walked into the kitchen as Buck was pouring the batter into the frying pan. He walked towards Christopher, bending down to kiss his son on the forehead and ruffling his hair. 

“I see he talked you into the pancakes, huh?” Eddie asked, walking over to the fridge and pouring his own glass of milk. He turned back to Buck watching as the man piled up two plates of pancakes. 

“Of course, how could I say no to those eyes.” Christopher flashed his puppy dog eyes at his dad, who just laughed. Buck flipped the last pancake onto the plates, turning the stove off and turning to place the two plates onto the dining table. Eddie walked around to his favorite seat next to his son, stopping as he passed by Buck. 

“Wait a minute, is that my shirt?” He asked, pulling on the fabric away from Buck’s bicep. He bit the corner of his mouth as he looked Buck up and down, his eyes flashing with some emotion Buck couldn’t place. 

“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind,” Buck said, plucking the collar of the shirt off his neck as he hung his head. He glanced up at Eddie from under his lashes.“My shirt was smelling a little funky and I didn’t have any other clothes washed so I grabbed something from your closet.”

“Y-yeah, that’s fine. I’ll uh- make sure to do the laundry today.” Eddie said, his eyes still glancing down to where the shirt was straining across Buck’s chest, his nipples visible against the fabric. “It’s just a little bit of a tight fit though isn’t it? I mean, no offence, but you are a lot broader than I am.” 

“I mean yeah,” Buck stated, flexing a little in the shirt and smirking at Eddie. “I can deal with it for a few hours though. We have to be at the station later on though, so I’ll change then.”

Eddie hummed and continued staring at him, his eyes finally flicked up to meet Buck’s. His eyes then flicked down to a spot on his face, and his hand reached up to cup Buck’s jaw. Buck tilted his head in confusion, a blush creeping into his cheeks as he held his breath. Eddie’s thumb brushed across the bridge of his nose and his cheekbone, his hand falling from his jaw. 

“You had some flour,” Eddi stated in explanation, hands gesturing to his own face in the same general area. Buck just nodded, taking a step back and clasping his hands together in front of himself. 

“Y-yeah. Uh.” Buck said, chewing on his lower lip as he rocked back on his heels. He looked down at his wrist, like one would do if they were wearing a watch. He obviously wasn’t wearing one, a fact that wasn’t missed by Eddie who looked confused. 

“I should ah- I should get going. To the ah- the coffee date thing.” Buck stumbled over his words, his hands pointing in the direction of the door. Eddie just looked at him as he fumbled over himself, confused at his best friend’s sudden eagerness to leave. Buck walked over to Christopher, who had thankfully missed the whole exchange, too busy stuffing his favorite pancakes in his mouth. Buck dropped a kiss against his forehead, smiling as the boy grinned around his mouthful of pancakes up at him. “I’ll see ya later, okay buddy?” 

“Bye, Bucky.” Christopher said, swallowing down his pancake with a gulp of his milk. The milk gave him a small white mustache as he smiled at him, causing Buck to chuckle and tousle his haid. Buck glanced back to Eddie, who was leaning back against the kitchen counter, looking at the exchange fondly. 

“I’ll see you at work later, right?” Buck asked, leaning with hand braced against the back of Christopher’s chair. Eddie shot him a strained smile, his jaw ticking.

“Yeah, I’ll see you then, Buck. Have fun on your coffee date.” 

Buck grinned back at him, moving towards the Diaz’s front door. Once he had the door shut behind him, he leaned his forehead against it, heaving a sigh of relief. He’d never realized how tactile his friendship with Eddie really was; not until he really allowed himself to realize his feelings for the man. Either way, the touches didn’t mean anything. Eddie was just a tactile person, using casual touches to show how much he cared for his friends. Nothing more, no matter how much Buck wished it was. Buck released a low moan, pushing off the door and walking off to his jeep. 

The drive over to the coffee shop didn’t take nearly as long as he thought it would. Which was good, considering he was already a few minutes late. It was easy to find a parking spot, and before he knew it he was opening the door of the coffee shop and stepping inside. Buck did a quick glance around the store, almost immediately spotting Claire. She was dressed similar to how she was when he saw her in the grocery store, hair pulled back and glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. He caught her eye as she looked up from a book, waving as he joined the line of customers waiting to order their coffee. 

It only took a few minutes for Buck to reach the front counter and place his order, a plain back coffee and a buttered croissant. Once he grabbed his order, he made his way over to the table the Claire was sitting near the back of the shop. Claire stood up once he reached her table, pulling him into a hug as soon as he was within reach. Buck laughed in response, but still wrapped his arms around her small frame. They both pulled away at the same time, grinning at each other and settling down into their seats. 

“Thanks for meeting with me.” Buck said, smiling as Claire closed the book she previously had sitting open. He reached into the sugar container sitting on the table and poured a hefty amount into his coffee. 

“It’s not a problem, I didn’t really expect to see you after the whole bar thing, but it was nice running into you again.” Claire said, taking a sip of her own coffee. She cringed as she watched Buck take a sip of his overly sweet drink. “You must have a giant sweet tooth with all that sugar.” 

“Haha, not really but I cannot stand coffee unless it has a shit ton of sugar in it.” Buck laughed, eyes twinkling as he looked into Claire’s. He took a bite of his croissant and chewed before he opened his mouth again. “I wanted to say thank you again. For helping me with my friends, I mean, they’ve really backed off on the whole getting laid thing. Which trust me, is a  _ big _ relief.” 

“Like I said before, it was no problem. I’m glad I could help,” Claire responded, a smirk crossing her features. “Besides, I clearly haven’t helped you nearly as much as your friend has.” She motioned to the marks covering his neck, some of them visible through the unbuttoned top of his henley. Buck blushed, eyes dropping to the counter as he took another bite of his food to stall a response. 

“So, I ah- I wanted to ask,” Buck stated, clearing his throat as he looked back into Claire’s eyes. “Why did you help me exactly? I mean, what do you have to gain from it?” 

“Why do I have to gain something from it? I could just have done it from the goodness of my heart.” Claire cocked her head to the side, and Buck just shrugged his shoulders as a strange look crossed his face. She laughed, reaching out to touch Buck softly “I’m joking, Buck. It helps keep my friends off my back too. And trust me, I need that as much as I can get it these days. They are  _ always _ trying to get me to hook up with people.”

His brow furrowed,“Why would they do that? I mean if you don’t want to, why would they try and force you?” Buck asked, a frown over taking his face. Suddenly, he was glad that Claire was the one to approach him that night at the bar. It seemed that they were both benefiting from their meeting. 

“They aren’t really forcing me to, but they keep giving me sad looks and I guess they think it’s something people our age are supposed to do. And I mean, I just really could care less about hooking up with people.” Claire explained, a look of pain flashing across her face. “This also helps me hide the fact that I am asexual from them. Not that they don’t know, they just don’t really understand it and I- it- this just makes it easier.” 

“I uh- I’m sorry your friends don’t accept that.” Buck said, reaching over to place his hand over top of Claire’s. “I don’t actually know what it is myself. Can you explain it to me?” 

“Yeah, I uh- no one has ever asked me to explain it to them before.” Claire said, flashing a small smile at Buck. Buck squeezed her hand and smiled back, hoping to send her some positive vibes. “Basically, I don’t often feel sexual attraction to people. Yeah, I might view someone as physically attractive, but I don’t feel anything sexual towards them. That doesn’t mean I don’t like sex, because I do. Just not with other people.”

She paused to take a quick sip of her coffee. “My friends don’t really understand it because I held a sexual attraction to some guy in highschool when I didn’t really understand about asexuality myself. I guess I lean more towards the greysexuality end of the ace spectrum, if I think about it.”

“What does that mean? Greysexuality?” Buck asked, interested to learn about this different sexuality that he’d never really heard anything about. 

“It means that while I don’t often feel sexual attraction, I might on some occasions. I might experience sexual feelings for someone. It doesn’t really matter if I know the person or if they are a stranger. And like I said, it’s super rare for me to feel any type of sexual attraction to anyone. In fact, it’s only happened twice in my life. Once with that guy in highschool, and ah- once when I met you in the bar.”

“Oh,” Buck said, leaning back in his seat. He watched as a flush overtook Claire’s cheeks and she bit her lip. Buck chuckled, and squeezed her hand again. “That’s cool. I um- Thank you for explaining it to me. And I uh- A few years ago, I probably would have taken you up on your offer that night, but I don’t really do one night stands anymore and I ...” 

“And you’re in love with that friend of yours right?” Claire asked, interrupting his stumbling explanation. Buck’s mouth fell open as he stared at the woman, stunned at her statement. 

“I… uh,” Buck started, swallowing thickly as he looked to the side. Memories of that first night in the club came easily, Eddie’s hot breath on his neck while Buck shivered, goosebumps climbing up his arms as he blinked the images away. When he turned back to Claire there was a blush dusting across his cheeks. “Th- a uh- That is a big part of it, yeah. Am I that obvious?” 

“A little bit, yeah.” Claire said, reaching up to brush a stray hair out of her face. It didn’t quite stay, falling back to the same place. Buck laughed under his breath, moving to tuck it behind her ear. Claire smiled at him, and picked up her coffee cup. After taking a sip, she placed it back down on the table. “You know, he loves you too, right?”

Buck rolled his eyes, taking his hand off of hers and shoving the last of his croissant into his mouth. It bought him some time from answering as he folded his arms in front of him and leaned onto the small table. “Yeah, I mean as a friend and a-a brother but he doesn’t love me the way I love him. He’s been there for me in some of my toughest moments. We are best friends, and I’ve never had one of those. Not like him.” 

Claire watched him as he talked about Eddie. His eyes lit up as he talked about the man, though a small frown etched across his face when he described Eddie’s love only being platonic. Claire leaned onto the table, mirroring Buck’s position. “When did you know that you were in love with him?” 

Buck let out a long sigh, looking into her eyes that held warmth and interest. This was a part of himself that he had never really shared with anyone else, but Claire had shared a deep part of herself when she talked about asexuality. If she could trust him enough to open up about that, he could open up to her. He could finally open up to someone who may understand.

“I used to have a lot of sex.” Buck started off, watching as Claire just nodded along. She was giving him her undivided attention, something he was extremely grateful for. “Anyone that was a consenting adult, no matter the gender, was someone I had no problem sleeping with. I didn’t really hide myself from male encounters, but I also didn’t label myself as bisexual at the time.”

Buck bit his lip, heaving out a sigh as he mentioned his bisexuality for the first time out loud. He looked down at the table, running his finger along one of the cracks, before he continued on. “I uh, ran into some trouble with the sleeping around bit and then I met someone who changed my whole view on relationships. I’d never really had a strong image of relationships, which is why I avoided them. But this person, this beautiful woman, changed that part of me. I fell for her fast,  _ too fast _ . And she ended up leaving me to parade around Europe, doing that whole _ Eat, Pray, Love _ thing.

For the longest time, I believed she was coming back. I stayed at her place,  _ our place _ , until one day, it finally hit me that she wasn’t coming back. At some point during that time, Eddie had walked into my life. At first, I hated him, thought I was being replaced once again by the people I loved. So I was an ass to him. And, my god, he could send back every ounce of sass and sarcasm I’d throw in his direction. And God, did that make him even more attractive in my eyes. You’ve seen him, right? He’s fucking gorgeous! I wanted him the moment I saw him, even though it was pushed back by how much I couldn’t stand him. My attraction just increased it, made it fester.” 

Buck’s fist hit the table, rattling his plate. He was aware that he was rambling, probably spewing too much information at Claire all at once. He thought about stopping there, but once he looked into Claire’s eyes, he couldn’t hold back the words any longer. 

“We almost died together, quite a few times actually. But this time, he turned and looked at me with this giant grin on his face. Told me I was a badass and that I could have his back anytime. And like that, my hatred faded away. He trusted me with his life, after all the hatred I’d showed him, he still trusted me. Then we had that earthquake, about a year and a half back? And I found out he had a son. And he was so worried about him, worried about not being there to help him and that he wasn’t safe at his school.

I’d never had that with my parents, but I could see the love for that boy written all over his face. When our shift was over, I drove him to pick up his son and he was out of my Jeep before I even parked. I saw him run and drop to his knees and embrace his son in the biggest hug ever. When I saw the tension flow out of him the moment he saw his son, I knew I was a goner. I had absolutely no chance in hell when it came to not falling in love with that man.” 

Buck paused, taking a deep breath and watched Claire’s reaction. She smiled at him, her chin rested on her hand. Buck took a sip of his now cold coffee, grimacing at the taste. “It didn’t help that I got to know him, plus Christopher, his son. That kid is the strongest person I know and he holds so much love in his heart.” 

Buck paused then, as images of Christopher played through his mind. No matter what that kid went through, he never let life push him down. He was a big part of what helped Buck push himself through recovery. A small, sad smile found its way to his face as he continued. 

“I didn’t let myself realize how much I was in love with him. Like I said, I wasn’t even truthful to myself about my attraction to men. Sure, I’ve slept with a few, but it was more about them being another person to chase that high with. So I hid those feelings from myself and from him. I uh- I recently admitted it to myself. But I can’t tell him, he’s my best friend and he’s straight. I mean, he was married to a woman and he just doesn’t feel that way towards me. I can’t take the chance and have him back away. I couldn’t stand to lose Eddie and Christopher, I already almost did and it hurt  _ so fucking much _ .”

Buck was close to tears at this point, the liquid clouding his vision. He could feel Claire, resting a hand on his bicep. Blinking back the tears, Buck sent Claire a watery smile and reached up to wipe under his eyes. Claire squeezed his arm, her hand rubbing up and down soothingly. “I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me about your feelings. It’s good to get that stuff off your chest.”

“I- yeah, I didn’t mean to let that all out.” Buck said, letting out a short laugh. A blush dusted his cheeks as he looked at Claire from under his lashes. “Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. You know, you sounded a little bit like a therapist there for a moment.” 

Claire laughed, throwing her head back with the force of it. She looked back at Buck with a grin on her face, pushing her glasses back up her nose. “That’s great actually, considering that’s what I am going to school for.” 

“Really? That’s awesome! You’re a really great listener, so I’m sure you’d be…” Buck trailed off noticing Claire attention switch to something behind him. He shot her a look of confusion, turning to look over his shoulder. As he turned, he noticed Chimney making his way over to the couple, a big grin spread across his face. Buck beamed back at him, lifting his hand to send him a small wave as the man got closer. “What’s up, Chim? Ready for shift later?”

“Hey, Buckaroo! I was just stopping in to grab Mads’ favorite coffee before meeting up with her during lunch.” Chimney raised his hands, showing off the two to-go cups in his hand. He turned toward Claire and shot her a big smile. “Hey, you must be Claire, right? We haven’t officially met yet but my name is Chimney.” 

“Chimney?” Claire asked, turning to Buck with her eyebrow raised. 

Chim laughed, “It’s a nickname. Long story, but it obviously involves a chimney. My name is actually Howie.” Chim turned back to Buck and addressed him for a moment. “Hey, Buckaroo, did you invite your girl to our bar night?”

“No, I uh- I hadn’t gotten the chance.” Buck turned to look at Claire, clearing his throat. Chimney calling her  _ his girl _ really threw him off. “Did you um- Would you like to meet us at the bar tomorrow night? It’ll just be us, and Eddie and my sister and some other firefighters from the 118.” 

Claire laughed at his sudden embarrassment, reaching over to squeeze his arm. “I’d love to meet up with you guys. What time are you meeting?” 

“Um…” Buck stuttered, looking to Chimney for an answer. Chim didn’t have one so he just shrugged his shoulders causing Buck to roll his eyes. He turned back to Claire and shot her a half smile. “How does eight sound?”

“That’s a great time for me!” Claire looked down at her watch, letting out a small curse as she reached down to grab her bag. As she stood, she sent a small smile to Buck. “I hate to run so soon but I’m gonna be late for my class if I don’t leave now. I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“Yup, I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good class, and I’ll text you later, yeah?” Claire nodded as Buck stood with her, pulling her into a tight hug. He bent down and kissed her cheek, whispering a small “ _ Thank you! _ ” in her ear as he released her. She turned to Chim and told him how nice it was to meet him before she finally started making her way out of the shop. 

“She’s definitely not what I was expecting when you slept with her at the bar.” Chim added as they looked after her retreating figure. Buck bit back a smile, turning to look at Chim. 

“Yeah, she’s not what I expected at all.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you all enjoyed this part! I know they didn't discuss Eddie's dream (and some of y'all really wanted that) but I really couldn't figure out how to set it up in this chapter! Also sorry for the lack of steam, but like I said it was fore filler and feelings than anything else.
> 
> As always, I really enjoy reading y'all's comments! You guys had some amazing things to say last time ( and gave me some great ideas *wink wink*! Please keep them coming! 
> 
> Next chapter should be up in about a week, but school is really kicking my ass so it might be a little delayed! It however, it be extremely long! 
> 
> Also don't forget you can send me ideas for this story and any other prompt you want through my [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/asteroidbill)!
> 
> xx


	5. Part Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning this is a loooooong chapter, and I even split it into 2 chapters and its still awful!   
> Thanks again to my beta Zel for looking it over and a special thanks to Christina, Nilshki, and AstroAngel from the discord for also looking it over! 
> 
> Be prepared for this chapter of a beast!

There were people crowding the entrance as Buck stepped into the bar on Saturday night. After getting through the crowded doorway, he realized it wasn’t just the entrance, but the whole bar that was packed. More so than the last time he was there. Buck quickly, but politely, pushed his way through the mass of people trying to find his way towards where the booths were situated. His eyes browsed the seating area easily, thanks to him being taller than most of the other patrons. A fast sweep of the area left Buck still looking for his friends, a sudden movement catching his eyes toward the darker section of the area. He raised his hand to wave back at Chimney, who was wildly throwing his limbs in an attempt to get Buck’s attention. 

“Hey, guys!” Buck said, once he finally pushed through the crowd. Chimney, Maddie, Eddie, and Claire were all squeezed into a small booth, almost hidden at the back of the section. Claire stood from her seat, dressed in a similar fashion to the night he first met her. She was wearing a gorgeous dress, hair curled into waves down her back. To Buck’s disappointment, she had foregone her glasses for the night, but she was still an outstandingly beautiful woman. Claire stepped up and wrapped her arms around him, leaning up even in her heels to press a kiss to his cheek. Buck laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist, turning to his friends. “Where are Hen and Karen? Did they already hit the dancefloor?” 

“They decided to stay in since they had the house to themselves. If you know what I mean.” Chimney sent a wink with his statement, causing everyone at the table to laugh. Buck slid into the booth next to Eddie, squeezing in tightly against him as Claire slid in beside him. Eddie handed him a beer bottle, which Buck eagerly grabbed and took a long sip of. 

“Thanks, Eddie.” He turned to look at him, reaching over to clank his bottle against Eddie’s. He turned back to look at Maddie, placing his arm around Claire as she snuggled even closer to him. She obviously took his cues very well. “So I see you guys have all already met. Sorry I was so late getting here but traffic was awful.” 

“I told you to come to my house so we could carpool.” Eddie sighed, resting his bottle on his bottom lip as he shot Buck a smirk. Buck groaned, slapping him on the arm with the hand not wound around Claire. 

“Someone hasn’t done the fucking laundry yet, remember? I have no clean clothes at your house!” Buck watched as Maddie spewed her sip of alcohol, cringing as some of it landed on his face. He shot her a bewildered look as Chimney started patting her on the back. 

“I did the laundry yesterday like I said I would, asshole.” Eddie rebutted, barely glancing as Maddie wiped down the spewed wine from the table. He turned to stare as Buck, as he continued. “Besides, you could have just stolen another one of my shirts like you did yesterday morning.” 

“I- I’m sorry, what?” Maddie asked, drawing the attention of the two boys to her. They both looked at her with brows raised, urging her to continue. She kept looking between the two of them with an astonished look on her face. “First of all, why is Eddie doing your laundry? And second of all, you share each other's clothes?” 

“I offered to throw his clothes in with mine and Chris’s this week, so he didn’t have to lug them back to his place to wash and then lug them back to mine.” Eddie shrugged, finding no problem in his answer. He took another sip of his beer and Maddie continued staring at him, puzzled. 

“Okay, but it’s still not adding up to me. Why would he even have so many clothes at your place? Why would he need to be shuttling them in between y’all’s places anyway?” Maddie felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, and she leaned into Chimney’s embrace. She continued glancing between her brother and his best friend, clearly still not grasping this weird concept between them. 

“I seem to spend more nights at Eddie’s place than I do at mine, Mads. I have to keep a few extra clothes and uniforms at his place just in case. The last thing I want to do is run back to my apartment every morning to get clean clothes.” 

Maddie continued staring at him, her eyes blinking owlishly back at him. She may have been a little sloshed, but the reasons were still not adding up in her eyes. “But why are you staying at his place and not your own?” 

“Because his place is closer to the station,” Buck explained, rolling his eyes as he squinted at her. He really didn’t understand why his sister was asking such questions but continued answering her nonetheless. “It’s easier to just crash on his couch after a long shift than to drive all the way home.” 

Maddie’s mouth formed an O shape as she realized the situation. So her brother wasn’t sleeping with his best friend like she had thought. She leaned over and whispered into Chimney’s ear,  _ “They are both fucking idiots!” _ , causing him to bust out laughing. Buck shot them both a weird look but chose to ignore the two of them. Instead, he turned to Claire, who had sat silently and observed the encounter between the group. “You wanna go hit the dance floor?” 

“Definitely!” Claire said, grinning at Buck and slipped out of her seat pulling him with her. Buck downed the rest of his beer, twisting to place it back on the table. He looked up as he saw Maddie and Chim moving out of their side of the booth. 

“You guys mind if we join you?” Maddie asked, turning around to speak to her brother. Chimney wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, and she leaned her head back against his chest. 

“Of course,” Buck replied, turning to look at Eddie who was still nursing his beer. Buck reached across the seat and nudged his shoulder. Eddie turned to look at him and Buck flashed him a grin. “You wanna join us, man?” 

“Nah, you guys go have fun.” Eddie waved them off, smirking into the lip of his bottle. Buck shrugged but let himself be pulled away by Claire into the massive crowd surrounding the dance floor. Instead of trying to force their way into the thick of the dancing mob, the two couples decided to stay towards the outside of the dance floor.

Once Claire found a spot that seemed to suit her, she turned to face Buck. Placing her arm around his neck, she pulled him closer to her body, a seductive grin on her face. If Buck didn’t know any better, he’d say she was truly trying to seduce him. But since he did, he just grinned back at her and placed his hands on her hips. Buck closed his eyes, leaning his head back and started to feel the beat of the music. He let it guide his hips, using his hands to guide Claire’s as well, though she seemed to need no help. 

He felt Claire turn around in his arms, her back pressed against his front as she leaned her head back on his chest. Her ass was pressed against his dick, and while a few years ago that would have him harder than steel, he felt nothing more than a twitch. Buck placed a hand on her hip, guiding their movements through the thundering beat of the music. 

Buck’s eyes slowly fluttered open, his eyes meeting Eddie’s through a part in the crowd. Eddie’s eyes were heated as he stared into Buck’s, his jaw clenched as he took in the sight of Buck and Claire dancing. Buck’s breath hitched, as Eddie stared them down through the crowd. His cock began filling in his jeans as he continued eye contact with the older man. 

“Either I’m having more of an effect on you than I originally thought or Eddie is glowering at us. Assumingly pissed at how close and provocatively we are dancing.” Claire stated, suddenly. Her hand came up to grab the back of Buck’s neck as she continued moving to the music. 

“Y-yeah,” Buck answered, still caught up in Eddie’s stare. 

“Wanna make him jealous?” She asked. Buck blinked, his mind swirling with possibilities. Had he not been under Eddie’s intense gaze; If his head had been a little clearer; He might have said something other than a breathy,  _ “Yeah” _ . “Okay, here is what I want you to do. Push my hair back. Mouth at my neck. Continue eye contact with him. Got that?” 

“Y-yeah.” Buck breathed, already disobeying her by breaking eye contact, and pulled Claire’s hair over her shoulder. First, he trailed his fingertips from the back of her neck and down her shoulder. Next, he placed an open mouth kiss on the end of her shoulder, trailing his lips up the same path his hands just followed. His eyes fluttered up, locking in on Eddie’s once again. His eyes were more heated than they were previously, his lip bitten between his teeth. Buck’s tongue peeked out as he traced the edge of Claire’s ear, his teeth biting down lightly on the lobe. 

“Has he started storming over here yet?” Claire asked, her voice breathless as Buck started sucking lightly on the skin behind her ear. Buck whispered a soft  _ “No.”  _ against her ear, his breath hot and wet against the small bruise beginning to form behind her ear. Buck started layering kisses back down her neck and shoulder, as she reached around behind her to thread her fingers through his hair. She gripped it lightly as she let out a low moan, clearly showing that this had some effect on her. Buck maintained eye contact with Eddie, watching as the man narrowed his eyes at him, looking close to committing murder. While the darkness in Eddie’s eyes should have scared him at least a little, it did nothing but make his pants even tighter. Claire took notice and leaned up to talk in Buck’s ear. “Wink at him. Show him this is all a show for him.” 

Buck was confused by her statement, unsure if that would achieve the effect she was hoping for. Deciding it best not to question her, he removed his lips from her neck. Instead, he swept his tongue lightly against the juncture of her neck before pulling away. He sent a smirk in Eddie’s direction as he saw him bit his cheek. Next, he sent a wink, his teeth sinking into the flesh of Claire’s neck a little more roughly than he’d intended. 

“Fuck, Buckley!” Claire said, wincing as Buck released her skin from his mouth. She turned once again in Buck’s arms, a giant smirk playing on her face as she placed her arm around his neck. He broke eye contact with Eddie, staring into Claire’s as she moved a hand to his chest. She pulled him down by the hand on the back of his neck, placing her lips next to his ear. “If that little display doesn’t get you fucked tonight, I’ll gladly do it myself. And then thump that man on the head for missing the opportunity.” 

“I’m not gonna sleep with him, Claire.” Buck started, all smiles draining from his face. He sighed, his chest heaving with the sound. He chewed on his bottom lip, before opening his mouth again. “We talked about this. I may be in love with him, but he doesn’t feel that same way. Sure, a little teasing is fine, but he’s straight and he’s my best friend. Him and his son are like the only family I have besides Maddie. I can’t lose him.” 

“Buck, there is no way that man is not in love with you,” Claire said, resting her palm against his cheek. They both stopped dancing to the music, as the song changed, no longer feeling the beat. “Did you see the way he was looking at you? How upset he was that you were dancing with me?”

“Exactly, Claire! He was upset that I was dancing with you!” Buck exclaimed, throwing a look back at the direction of Eddie’s table. The man was no longer looking in their direction, but rather at his phone. Buck sighed, his eyes flitting back to Claire’s. “How do we know that he isn’t into you?” 

“Please,” Claire stated, rolling her eyes. She thumped Buck on the shoulder, pulling a small smile from him. “I know I am fine as hell, Buckley, but he only has eyes for one person. And it’s not me.” 

“Fine, hypothetically speaking,” Buck said, pushing a strand of hair behind Claire’s ear. “If he was looking at me, it’s because of all that shit that we’ve started. Him helping me with the hickies and everything. It’s just him feeling worked up from that. He’s been having a dry spell for a hell of a lot longer than I have. His wife just died a little over a year ago, and he can’t be in love with me like I am with him. Say he did want to sleep with me? I couldn’t do that, not once, and not with him not loving me the way I want him to. It’d kill me.” 

“I-” Claire started, stopping herself from saying something Buck wasn’t ready to hear. She could see the tears gathering in his eyes, his jaw clenched as he fought to keep them back. They kept having these heart to heart talks, but Buck still was oblivious to Eddie’s feelings no matter how much she spelled it out. He wouldn’t get it until Eddie just fessed up and told him. Which, honestly, the way those two were, would never happen without a little pushing from both ends. Claire sighed, reaching up to rub Buck’s shoulder in a soothing manner. “Okay, I understand. Why don’t we just forget about this and have a good time alright?” 

“Yes, please! This was supposed to be a fun night where you got to meet my friends and help me convince them that we were dating. We were supposed to drink ourselves stupid and dance, not cry.” Buck barked out a laugh, bringing his hand up to wipe under his eyes. Claire laughed placing her head against his chest the two of them swaying to their own music. Suddenly, Claire raised her head and looked behind her, her hair whipping around and almost hitting Buck in the face. She turned back around to smile sheepishly at Buck. 

“Give me just a moment.” She said, turning and prancing off in the direction of Eddie. Buck watched as she bounced off, head tilted in confusion as she placed herself in the booth across from Eddie. He watched as the two struck up a conversation, before deciding he had better things to do than stand there and watch them. Buck twisted around, eyes searching for his sister and her boyfriend. He found them not far from where he and Claire had been dancing. He laughed as he watched the two of them dancing like buffoons. If there was one thing he knew, he was a hundred percent sure he did not get his dancing skills from Maddie. 

Buck made his way over to Maddie and Chim, walking up behind Chim and placing his hands on his hips. He laughed as Chimney jumped out of his skin, whirling around to face him. Chimney let out a big sigh of relief as he took in Buck doubled over in laughter. 

“Jesus, Buck! I didn’t know who the hell grabbed me! I thought I was gonna have to fight my way out of here!” Chimney hollered, watching as his girlfriend and her brother leaned against each other as they died of laughter. He threw his hands in the air and looked at them exacerbated. He pushed Buck’s shoulder playfully. “You can’t do that to a man!” 

“Damn, Chim.” Buck gasped for breath, trying to stand and he continued laughing. He placed his hands in front of him, surrendering. “I was just tryin’ to dance with you, buddy.”

“Well, ask next time!” Chim pushed against Buck’s shoulder again. Maddie finally caught her breath, leaning against her brother as he started making grabby motions at her boyfriend. 

“Okay, this is me asking then. Dance with me, Chim?” Buck asked, flashing a playful grin at him. Chimney laughed but still pulled Buck into his arms. The two of them started moving their hips to the beat of the music, or in Chimney’s case, what he thought was the beat. Buck laughed as he placed his hands on Chimney’s hips, trying to help him to no avail. Buck could hear Maddie laughing as she watched the two of them, turning his head in time to see the flash of her camera go off.

Flashing her a grin, he turned and placed his back to Chimney’s front, grinding his ass back into his stomach. Chim laughed, positioning his hands on Buck’s hips, attempting to guide him to the completely wrong beat. Buck reached behind him and placed his hand behind Chim’s neck, laughing as they started to sway to the music. He could see the flash go off as Maddie took another picture before she stepped up behind Chimney, effectively sandwiching him between the two Buckley siblings. Buck was so caught up in having fun with the two of them that he didn’t even notice that Claire and Eddie had joined them on the dancefloor. 

“Damn, as much as I don’t want to break up this dance party do y’all mind if we steal Buck?” Claire asked as she and Eddie appeared in Buck’s line of sight. The two of them looked more than amused by the display that Buck, Chimney, and Maddie had put on. He grinned at them as he continued grinding his body back against Chim.

“Go on Buckaroo, it looks like your girl wants to be the meat between your’s and Eddie’s man sandwich. Let her have her fun.” Chim laughed, patting Buck on the hip as he released his hold. Buck grinned as he made his way over to Claire, taking her hand and twirling her and wrapping her in his arms. 

“So you finally decided to join the party, Diaz?” Buck asked, fluttering his eyelashes. Eddie looked dazed as Buck looked at him, hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck. 

Claire pushed her way out of his embrace and wrapped her arms around Eddie, leaning up to smack a kiss to his cheek. Eddie blushed as her lips made contact, his eyes avoiding Buck’s. She turned back towards Buck with a mischievous smile, winking. “Yup! I was able to talk Eddie boy here into joining us. As long as you don’t mind sharing me, Buckley?” 

“Nah, Eddie is more than welcome to join us.” Buck shot her a hard look, knowing she was up to something. Claire smirked and reached out, her fingers hooking into his belt loops and pulling his body to her. Buck tossed his head back and laughed, placing his hands on her waist as they started grinding to the music. 

“Don’t leave me hanging here, Eddie!” Claire demanded, turning her head to look behind her. Buck watched as Eddie sighed but stepped up behind her with a big grin, slotting his knee in between her thighs. His hands rested over top of Buck’s on her hips, as Claire leaned her head back against his chest. She trailed the hand still gripping the top of Buck’s pants, over his abs to his chest and massaged his pec. Her other hand moved to clutch the back of Eddie’s neck as she pulled his head in the crook of her neck. Claire’s eyes closed as she grinded between the two hot men. 

Eddie and Buck shared a look over her head, grinning as they moved to the music. Buck moved one of his hands off of her hip, from under Eddie’s, to the small of her back. This caused his hand to be trapped between her back and Eddie’s hard abs. Buck’s breath hitched as he felt the warmth of Eddie’s body against his hand, his cock twitching in his pants from the simple touch. He bit his lip, eyes closing as he loses himself to the pulsing ebb and flow of the music. He feels Claire pull him closer by wrapping her arm around his neck, his head coming awfully close to Eddie’s. Deciding to bite the bullet, he places his head next to Claire’s where she’s still rested against Eddie. He leaned down to place his mouth next to Claire’s ear, his nose brushing lightly against Eddie’s chest. 

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” He breathes into her ear, feeling as Eddie removed his hand from Claire’s waist to settle it on his instead, pulling him impossibly closer to them. Claire had to be uncomfortable as she was squeezed between the two. Buck leans back to look at Eddie’s face, not surprised to see the man’s eyes closed with his head leaned back, enjoying the music. 

Claire leaned up, taking her chest off of Eddie’s chest, causing the man to open his eyes and look at the two in confusion. Buck fluttered his lashes and sent him a small smile as Claire spoke into his ear. “I’m not doing anything, Buckley. He just looked lonely over there. Thought I’d see if he’d join. Plus, I get to dance between two hot men. What’s to lose?” 

_ I could think of a few _ , Buck thought as he glanced at Eddie. He was caught up in the music again, his head tilted back and his eyes closed. Buck stared at him as Claire placed her head against his chest. He could feel Eddie’s abs clench against his hand on Claire’s back, as the man moved against her. Buck released a breath, looking around the crowd to see how Chimney and Maddie were doing, noticing that they were no longer within his line of sight. Figuring they must have returned to their booth, he decided to take a page out of Eddie’s book and just let go. 

Buck let the beat of the music take over his body, hips moving into Claire’s. His leg moved to slip in between her’s, his knee knocking against Eddie’s leg. His eyes opened slowly, as he blinks past the blurriness of the dark bar. Eddie was looking at him, his pupils blown around his irises. Buck gulped as he stared into those eyes, his hand tightening on Claire’s hip as his cock started to fill his jeans. A shiver ran down his spine as those eyes traced the movement of his throat. 

Suddenly, Claire’s head pops up as she takes her hand from around Buck’s neck. She stopped moving to the music, tapping Buck on the chest twice. “Alright, boys. I’m gonna run to the girl’s room, but you two keep those bodies dancing for me?” 

She trailed her hand down both of their chests as she walked out from between them. They watched as she made her way through the crowd, turning to each other after she leaves their line of sight. Eddie stepped closer to Buck, taking the space that Claire was just occupying. “I’m a little afraid of what she’ll do if we aren’t still dancing when she gets back.” 

“Y-yeah, glad that’s not just me,” Buck replied, breath hitching as Eddie placed his hand back on Buck’s hip. He pulled him closer as his lep slipped between Buck’s thighs. Buck raised an eyebrow at Eddie, placing an arm around his neck. Eddie just smirked as he started grinding his hips to the beat. Eddie’s leg brushed against the inside of his thigh, heat gathering in his gut as blood rushed to his groin. 

Buck bit his lip, and placed his hand on Eddie’s chest, feeling the other man’s heartbeat against his palm. Eddie’s other hand snaked around Buck’s waist to settle on the small of his back, pulling him flush against his body. There was no hiding the erection that was surely noticeable against Eddie’s abs. Buck hoped that he didn’t read too much into its presence, thinking that it was just the effect of dancing with Claire. Deciding not to worry too much about this situation, Buck began to lose himself to the feel of Eddie against him. 

Eddie’s hand tightened on his hip as his groin started grinding back against his to the heavy beat of the music. Buck felt Eddie’s head drop against his shoulder; felt him groan against the skin of his neck. His eyes shot open as he felt Eddie’s hand travel up his back, fisting his shirt as he pulled him impossibly closer. Eddie’s lips ghosted along his neck, trailing to his jaw. Buck’s breath hitched as Eddie nipped at the skin along his jaw bone. His eyes fluttered closed as he tilted his head back, exposing more of his neck for Eddie to explore with his mouth. 

“Buck?” Eddie’s voice was husky as he pulled back from Buck’s jaw. Buck blinked back the lust as he looked down into Eddie’s eyes. Eddie brought a hand up and placed it on his neck, brushing his thumb against Buck’s jaw. “I- uh - um. Did you- Were you going to need help with that thing tonight?” 

Unlike the previous times, Buck immediately got what Eddie was talking about. He nodded his head, chewing on his bottom lip, watching as Eddie’s eyes dropped to follow the movement. “Y-yeah. It probably wouldn’t hurt to plan on it.” 

“Meet at your place?” Buck nodded, eyes fluttering as Eddie’s knee made contact with his crotch. His cock pulsed against Eddie’s leg and all Buck could do is pray to God that Eddie didn’t feel it. Eddie’s hand grips his hip tighter, moving across his back before settling on his ass. Buck straddled Eddie’s thigh as he pulled him closer, his hand cupping his ass. He threw his head back, a low groan trying to make its way from his throat as he fisted Eddie’s shirt in his hand. Eddie’s hand squeezed his ass cheek, guiding Buck’s hips into rolling his dick against his thigh. Buck’s eyes fell shut as he lost himself over to the pleasure. 

“Hey, boys,” Buck blinked up at the ceiling, barely registering the woman standing to the left of him. It wasn’t until Eddie removed his thigh from in between Buck’s, that he turned to find Claire watching them. Buck almost whimpered as Eddie removed his hand from his ass, trapping it in his throat at the last minute. Claire looked at him with a knowing smirk, her hand coming up to squeeze his bicep.

“As much as I’d love to watch you two rub off on one another all night, I really don’t think that would bode well for your friend’s thinking that we are in a relationship. Luckily, they are both well on their way to being wasted and have yet to notice your public display of porn over here. However, that can’t be said for everyone else on the dancefloor. I might actually have to get management to put out a wet floor sign with all this drool.” 

A blush appeared high on Buck’s cheekbones as he glanced around the dance floor. Sure enough, there were multiple people eyeing him and Eddie with hungry looks. Buck gulped as he met Claire’s eyes again. “Y-yeah. I think it’s about time for a break anyway. Wanna head back to the booth?” 

He turned to Eddie as he asked this. He still had his arm wrapped around Buck’s back, which he dropped at that moment, taking a step back from him. Eddie winced as he took the step, his eyes glazed over as he opened his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll meet you guys over there in a minute. I gotta run to the men’s room first.” 

Eddie ran off towards the restrooms leaving Buck alone with Claire. Buck turned back to face Claire, eyes squinting in a glare as he looked at her. While he was extremely glad that she’d found a way to separate them, he had been so close to cumming against Eddie’s thigh. Claire rolled her eyes and sighed, wrapping her arm around his bicep and began pulling him towards the booth. Buck winced as his dick brushed against his jeans with every step, the friction just teetering on the wrong side of painful. 

Finally, Claire had pushed her way through the mob of people surrounding the dance floor, pulling Buck behind her. Claire settled into the booth opposite Maddie, as Buck clambered in next to her. Buck had never been more grateful to be sitting down, his dick straining in his pants. Chimney gazed at them with glazed over eyes, squinting as he looked at their appearance. 

“Did you two really start your marking shit on the dancefloor?” Chimney asked, his eyes narrowed in Buck’s jaw. Buck tilted his head in confusion, his eyes moving to stare at Claire. She turned to him, placing her hand on his chin. Buck could see a mark in the crease between her shoulder and neck, the one that he remembered leaving when they were messing with Eddie. 

That still didn’t explain why Chimney was staring at Buck’s throat and not Claire’s. Buck watched as Claire narrowed her eyes, her thumb running along his jawline. He winced as she pressed her thumb against a sore spot. Suddenly, Buck’s mind flashed back to Eddie’s mouth nipping at his jaw while they were dancing. Claire’s smirked at him as his eyes widened in realization, turning back to face Chimney. She winked at him before opening her mouth. “What can I say, I guess I can’t help myself.” 

Chimney started cracking up, leaning against Maddie’s shoulder as she lay reclined against the back of the booth. Her eyes were closed but a small, dopey smile splashed across her face as Chimney's head dropped against her. Buck glanced at her in bemusement, tapping his fingers against the table between them. “Hey, Mads? How much have you had to drink tonight?” 

“Fuck off, Evan.” She replied, her head leaning up as she shot him a glare. Buck chuckled in response as she looked around. Her eyes caught sight of his jaw, and she rolled her eyes. “Jesus Christ, Ev. Your girlfriend’s a fucking vampire!” 

“Evan?” Claire asked, turning to him, her eyebrow cocked in question. Buck groaned, knocking his head against the back of the booth. He scowled at his sister, to which she just giggled in response, raising her finger and flipping him off. He turned back to Claire, heaving out a sigh as he explained to her. 

“My first name is Evan, but no one is allowed to call me that except for Maddie.” 

“And Eddie! I know you let Eddie call you Evan!” Maddie interrupted, smirking at the two of them. Buck growled at her. No one knew the effect Eddie had over his body when he called him Evan. Just thinking about it made his twitch in his pants, pulsating as precum spilled from his slit. Buck squirmed in his seat trying to relieve the pressure on his cock, as Maddie laughed at his display of dominance. Suddenly, she stopped giggling and looked around the table confused. “Speaking of Eddie, where did he go?” 

“He said he was stopping by the bathroom when we left the dance floor. But that was a few minutes ago.” Buck answered, his eyebrows knitted together as he pulled out his phone. His eyebrows raised as he noticed a message from Eddie time marked a while back. “Actually, he sent a text a few minutes ago. Said he was gonna head home for the night.” 

In actuality, the message said that he was going to wait for Buck back at his apartment but his sister and Chimney weren’t supposed to know that. The other adults nodded their heads as Maddie started asking Claire questions about herself.

Buck didn’t pay too much attention, wrapping his arm around Claire’s shoulder as she leaned into him. His mind was thinking ahead to later when he got back to his place. Eddie was there waiting for him to get home so that he could mark him up. Buck shivered as he felt the ghost of Eddie’s lips dance over his skin. His hard-on jerked in his pants at the thought, thoroughly reminding Buck of its presence. He cursed under his breath as it refused to go away. He knew that if he didn’t do something to handle it before he went back to Eddie, he would blow his load all over his boxers before Eddie barely even got his mouth on him. 

He removed his arm from around Claire, standing quickly and diverting the table’s attention to him. He blushed as they all stared at him, Maddie’s question falling unanswered between them. He knocked his fists together, biting the inside of his lip. “I’m uh- I’m gonna run to the bathroom. Want me to pick up drinks on my way back?” 

There were many looks of confusion sent his was, but they each conceded and rattled off their drink orders. Buck nodded, before turning and heading towards the bathroom. It still hurt to walk, his cock rubbing against the fabric of his jeans with each step. When he finally opened the door to the men’s bathroom, he was glad to find at least one of the stalls unoccupied. He hurried into the stall, latching the door behind him and leaning his head against the door. He released a breath as he turned toward the toilet, undoing his belt and dropping his jeans and boxers. His dick bounced into his hand as he thankfully caught it before it smacked against his shirt covered abdomen. 

A groan forced its way out of Buck’s throat as he wrapped his hand around the base of his cock, his abs clenching. He braced his hand on the wall above the toilet as he spread his legs as far as his jeans would let him. Though it had been many years since he’d jerked off in a public bathroom, this was luckily one of the nicest and cleanest. 

Buck gasped as he thumbed over the head of his dick, catching a bead of precum and spreading around the tip. Shivers ran down his back, as he hung his head, his eyes clenching closed. In his mind, Eddie was behind him, hands on his waist as he rocked against his ass. His mouth fell open as his tongue wet his bottom lip, pulling it taut between his teeth. Buck’s dick jerked as he recalled the feeling of Eddie’s thigh between his. His hips rolled into his hand as he remembered the firm muscle of Eddie against his dick, a whine crawling its way from his chest. Buck couldn’t help but thank the heavens that he’d not shot off against Eddie’s leg in that moment. 

“Fuck,” Buck whispered, as his head turned slightly, searching for a voice he knew was only in his imagination. He let out another string of curses as he pictured Eddie’s hands bating away his own, taking a firm hold of his dick. His mouth spitting out Spanish as Buck rocked into his tight grip. Buck could hear the litany of Spanish curses as if Eddie were saying them directly in his ear. He felt precum steadily leak from his tip, as he spread it along his hot shaft, body twitching from the motion.

He felt his leg clench as he became closer to cumming, the coil of heat tightening in his stomach. Buck thumbed at his slit, rubbing the precum around the head of his dick. His hips twitched as he began fucking into his hand earnestly. He was right on the cusp of cumming, as his mind flashed back to a few nights prior, Eddie finding his own pleasure against him. He snapped his hips into his hand, much like Eddie had snapped his hips into his ass that night. It was to the thought of Eddie calling him  _ mi amor _ that set him off, cum spurting in ropes from his dick and into his hand. Body trembling as the last few spurts of cum fall into his hand, his mouth hung open as he fought to catch his breath. 

Once Buck no longer felt like a pile of post-orgasmic mush, he grabbed a wad of toilet paper to wipe his hand off and flushed the toilet. With his pants pulled back up, he turned to face the stall door, releasing a breath through his nose. Unlatching the lock, he opened the door and walked towards the sinks, ready to wash the sticky reminder of what he’d just done. He raised his eyes as he rounded the wall separating the urinals from the sinks, his eyes catching on Eddie’s in the mirror. 

Buck froze mid-step, his eyes wide as they met Eddie’s. Finally, his brain caught up with his body, and he forced himself to walk to the sink next to Eddie. Turning on the tap, he cleared his throat, eyes glancing over to Eddie was still lathering soap in his hands. “I uh- thought you already left.” 

“Yeah, I was um- going to leave after I got done in the bathroom. There was a uh- long line.” Eddie’s eyes shifted to him in the mirror as he turned off the water. He ran his hand in front of one of the automated hand towel dispensers, drying his hand on the paper towel it had dropped. 

“Oh, gotcha,” Buck replied, his eyebrows scrunching together. There was barely anyone in the bathroom when he’d walked in, and Eddie had supposedly been here a while before him. He decided not to push the statement, turning his own tap off and grabbing a paper towel. He turned to face Eddie, who stood leaning against the wall, staring at him. “I think Claire and I are about to take our leave so I’ll uh- see you back at my place, yeah?” 

“Yeah, I’ll see you there. I’m gonna go ahead and - ya know- leave.” Eddie stumbled through his words, finally just smiling lightly at Buck. He raised his hand in a wave, and then pushed off the wall and opened the bathroom door. Buck heaved out a sigh of relief as the door closed behind Eddie. He threw the towel in the trash can, pulling the door open himself and walking back into the chaos of the bar. He politely pushed his way back towards his friends, stopping to stand by the booth once he reached them, instead of sliding back in by Claire. 

“Hey, Buckaroo!” Chimney said as he was the first to notice him standing there. Claire and his sister ceased their conversation to turn and smile at him. Chimney’s eyes narrowed as he took in the lack of alcohol. “Hey, I thought you were going to get drinks?” 

“Oh shit, yeah I - uh- I forgot to grab those,” Buck said, knocking his knuckles against the table. His eyes shifted from Chimney to Claire, his eyes raising as she met his eyes. “I think it’s about time we uh- got out of here. What do you say?” 

Claire shot him a confused look, eyes dawning with understanding when he shot her a hard look. She smirked at him knowingly but slid out of the booth anyway. “Yeah, I think it’s about time to head on out. It was nice meeting you, Maddie. And nice seeing you again, Chim. Thank you for inviting me.” 

Claire wrapped her arm around his bicep, as he began walking away from the table. Maddie hollered after him telling him to text her when he got home, which he just waved off. Claire pulled him through the crowded bar, towards the entrance. Luckily the bar was not as crowded outside, Claire turning on him as soon as they stepped out the door. 

“Let me guess, lover boy is waiting at your place?” She asked, folding her arms in front of her. Buck sighed, rolling his arms as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He ordered a ride before turning to answer Claire. 

“He’s not lover boy, but yes he’s at my place,” he answered, moving to one side of the entrance and leaning against the building. “Did you wanna share a ride? My treat!” 

“Yeah, that’d be great. And thanks again for inviting me.” Claire said, moving to stand next to him. She placed her head on his shoulder, leaning her body against his. Buck placed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She glanced up at him, a smile painted across her face. “I had a lot of fun dancing with you guys. And getting to know your sister.” 

Buck laughed, chest moving with the sound. “Yeah, I think they enjoyed getting to know you. And I had fun dancing with you too. I haven’t danced like that in a while.” 

“Ugh, my friends try to drag me out to the club like twice a week. They don’t understand that some of us have papers to write.” Claire rolled her eyes, snuggling closer into Buck’s side. While it wasn’t necessarily winter, it was that time of year when Los Angeles got slightly chilly once the sun went down. “Speaking of dancing though, you and Eddie were really hot. Like you two were moments away from being classified as pornographic. Are you guys gonna be doing a repeat performance of that tonight?” 

“Most likely not,” Buck laughed, as their car pulled up. He removed his arm from around Claire, moving to open the door for her. He climbed in beside her, directing the driver to drop him off first. He turned back to Claire, finishing his statement. “In all honesty, I don’t think I’ll be able to handle him after all that tonight. Hopefully, he’s forgotten about it and we’ll skip it tonight.” 

“Well whenever you two get over this hiding your feelings thing and decide to finally fuck, let me know. I’d love to see the aftermath of that.” Claire stated, wistfully looking off into the distance like she was imagining it. Buck sputtered as he stared at her in bewilderment. She turned to look at him with a smirk. “What? Just because I’m asexual doesn’t mean I don’t like a good porno or fantasy.” 

Buck just busted out laughing, as their driver shot them an amused glance through the rearview mirror. Before long, they pulled up in front of Buck’s apartment complex. Buck turned to Claire before stepping out of the car, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek and wrap her in a hug. He whispered a  _ Thank you! _ once again, stepping out of the car and closing the door. He watched as the car drove off down the road before he started up his apartment complex’s dark steps. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure y'all are already on your way to comment on how much you want to be Claire atm! Trust me I have heard it all! I definitely agree!😂 I really hope you all enjoyed this, and part two should be out in a few days! 
> 
> As always, I love to read all of your comments! Especially about how fucking clueless these two idiots are! 
> 
> Any requests can be sent to my tumblr, [asteroidbill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/asteroidbill)!
> 
> xx


	6. Part Five and a half

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is part 2 of part 5!   
> Thanks again to Zel for betaing!

When Buck reached his front door, he pulled his keys from his front pocket and unlocked the door. He closed and locked his front door once it was closed, leaning against it to peel his shoes off. He padded into his living room barefoot, catching sight of Eddie laid out on his couch. Eddie’s eyes were closed, a beer bottle grasped in his hand that dangled off the couch. Buck moved to the couch, grabbing the bottle from Eddie’s hand as the man’s eyes opened. Buck smirked, picking up Eddie’s legs and placing them in his lap as he settled into the couch. His eyes met Eddie’s glowering once as he took a sip of the man’s beer. 

“Why do I always open a beer for you when I just know you’ll steal mine?” Eddie asked, groaning as he leaned up on his elbows. Buck shrugged his shoulders, leaning forward to grab the other open bottle sitting on the coffee table. He passed it to Eddie, winking as he took a sip from his stolen beer bottle. Eddie just rolled his eyes, taking a sip from the new bottle. Buck would never admit it out loud, but the reason he always stole Eddie’s beer was because it always had a faint taste of the man when he sipped from it. 

Eddie fell back on the pillow resting under his head, groaning as he threw an arm over his eyes. He took another sip of his beer, then let his arm dangle off the couch again. Eddie looked exhausted as Buck stared at him, dark circles prominent under his eyes. Buck took another sip of his beer, before leaning forward and setting it down on his coffee table. He glanced back at Eddie, picking up one of his sock-covered feet, and digging his thumbs into his heel.

Buck felt him flex his toes and watched as he peeked at him from under his arm. His thumbs rubbed up the sole Eddie’s foot, pulling a loud moan from the man. Buck smirked, dick kicking up at the sound. Eddie’s foot kicked out as Buck ran his thumb over his tarsal bones, sounds of pleasure falling from his lips. Buck dropped his foot before picking up the other one and applying the same treatment to it. 

Eddie leaned up on his elbow as Buck released his other foot, running his hand over his face and downing the rest of his beer. He removed his feet from Buck’s lap, curling one leg under him as he sat up on the couch. After placing his empty bottle on the coffee table, he turned his body to face Buck. “Hey, thanks for agreeing to accompany Christopher’s class to the aquarium next week. I wish I could have gotten off to take him, but I just couldn’t swing it.” 

“It’s no problem, Eddie. I love the aquarium and Christopher, so it was a no brainer. Anytime Chris needs me for something, I’ll do my best to be there.” Buck smiled, thinking about the boy who’d wormed his way into his heart, just like his father had. “Besides, you remember that time we took him to the zoo right? The way his eyes lit up every time he saw a new animal? I wouldn’t miss something like that for the world.” 

“Yeah, me too. Just uh- make sure you take plenty of pictures okay?” Eddie grinned, leaning his head against the back of the couch. Buck nodded, promising he’d take a lot. He could see that Eddie was upset about missing the trip, and Buck wished he’d be able to do something about it. Alas, he had already offered to cover the shift for Eddie, but the man refused, citing that Buck needed the day off and Christopher was too excited about him coming on the trip for him to change the plans. 

Buck sighed and reached to grab his beer from the coffee table, bringing it to his lips. He startled when Eddie cleared his throat, his attention immediately swinging to his best friend. Eddie bit the corner of his mouth as Buck turned to look at him, his eyes flitting to make eye contact with Buck. “So, uh- I had no idea Claire was joining us tonight? Was kind of surprised when I showed up and saw her sitting with Chimney and Maddie.”

“Yeah,” Buch started, his eyebrows shooting up in confusion as he stared at Eddie. “We ran into Chimney at the coffee shop yesterday and he’d mentioned it. Technically, he’s the one that invited her. He said it was something about wanting to get to know my new girlfriend.” 

“Oh,” Eddie said, reaching over to grab the beer bottle out of Buck’s hand just as he was bringing it to his mouth to take a sip. Buck grunted out an affronted noise, punching Eddie in the shoulder, missing the sad look in his eyes. Eddie covered it up, lips smirking around the beer bottle. “She seemed really great though. I think we all had fun getting to know her. You two are definitely made for each other it seems like.” 

Buck raised his brow at him, plucking the beer bottle back from his hands and downing the rest of the contents. He leaned over and placed the empty bottle on the coffee table before he turned back to Eddie. “So what exactly is that supposed to mean?” 

“That you two make a really good couple,” Eddie said, slowly, as if Buck was not comprehending the words he was saying. “I guess this means that you won’t be needing my help anymore right?” 

“What the fuck are you even talking about?” Buck asked, confused. He reached out and placed a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, head dropping to stare into his eyes as if they might hold the key to understanding. “I’m gonna need you to start from the beginning because you have completely lost me.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, shoulder rolling to displace Buck’s hand from his shoulder. Buck’s eyes followed his hand as it fell, almost hurt at the action. Eddie seemed to be shutting him out, and he made sure that Eddie could understand that he was both hurt and confused by it just by the look on his face. “I’m saying that you don’t need my help with fooling our friends anymore because you have a girlfriend now. You know Claire, the girl you brought to meet your best friends and your sister tonight?” 

“Eddie, Claire is not my girlfriend!” Buck explained, body shaking with laughter. “First of all, we don’t like each other like that. Like at all. The only reason she came tonight is because Chimney invited her. And I thought it would be nice to have friends that I didn’t meet at work. What in the world made you think that we were dating?” 

“I- uh,” Eddie stuttered. His eyes were squinted in frustration as he watched Buck laugh at him. “Did you see the two of you on the dancefloor? You both looked like you were close to going at it right there. And you had your mouth all over her. Did you not notice the hickie you’d left on her neck? Because let me tell you, they were definitely noticeable.” 

“Eddie, man.” Buck chuckled, shoving a hand against his shoulder. Eddie shot him a glaring look, pushing back against him. “You’re saying you think me and Claire are a couple because of the way we were dancing at the club? You do realize I dance with both you and Chimney as well right? And believe me, I am not dating Chimney.”

“And the love bites? Yeah, so I left a few on her? It was a heat of the moment kind of thing, ya know. It didn’t mean anything. And if love bites suddenly mean that the two people are in a relationship, then what the hell does that mean for us, man? Because let me tell you, you have been leaving some pretty big declarations all over me the past few weeks.”

Eddie’s jaw fell, gaping open like a goldfish at Buck’s statement. Buck shot him a triumphant look, laughter still shaking his upper chest. Eddie shot him a glare, before twisting around and grabbing Buck’s throw pillow. He turned back to face Buck, raising the pillow and smacking him upside the head with it. This time it was Buck’s turn to sit stunned, mouth opened as Eddie smirked at him. His eyebrow was raised in a daring look, causing Buck to smirk back. 

“Oh, you’ve fucking asked for it now!” Buck struggled to get the other throw pillow from under himself, Eddie taking the opportunity to get off the couch and run away from him. When Buck finally freed the pillow, Eddie was already across the apartment on the other side of the kitchen’s island counter. Buck stood, eyebrow raised in challenge, as he started bounding across the room, his long legs letting him cross the apartment in seconds. He rounded the island, sighing as Eddie took off from the other side of it.

Eddie ran towards the stairs that led up to Buck’s bedroom, dropping the throw pillow in exchange for one of Buck’s longer bed pillows. Buck made it up the stairs seconds after Eddie, taking advantage of his back being turned, and hitting him over the back with the throw pillow. Eddie grunted before turning around and attacking Buck with the larger pillow. Buck laughed, bringing his hands up to shield his face, backing up towards his closet. Eddie ceased his attack and the two started circling each other, pillows raised in offense. 

Suddenly, Eddie’s eyes took in their surroundings, looking to where Buck was standing. He smirked at Buck, causing the man to falter and shoot him a confused glance. As soon as he saw the man falter, he took his opportunity, dropping his pillow and launching himself at Buck. Buck’s face of shock was priceless as he fell back against his mattress, Eddie falling on top of him. Eddie wasted no time, borrowing his hands in Buck’s sides. 

Buck shrieked with laughter, trying to move away from Eddie’s fingers but not being able to escape their attack. Eddie’s fingers hiked up Buck’s shirt, skating over the skin of Buck’s hips as he tickled him. His hands moved to Buck’s neck, fingers digging into the skin as Buck’s chest heaved with laughter. 

All at once, Eddie found himself with Buck on top of him once again. Buck was straddling his waist, his hands pinned above his head by one of Buck’s. Buck leaned over him, his lips coming to rest beside his ear. Buck’s breath was warm against his best friend's ear. Eddie’s chest hitched with his breath as Buck chuckled in his ear. “I thought we figured this out the other night Eddie? I will always beat you at this game.” 

Buck could feel Eddie’s breath hitch as he pulled back to look over him. He grinned down at him mischievously, his unoccupied hand coming to trail lightly over Eddie’s abs. Buck could feel them clenching under his fingertips as he moved to dig his fingers into Eddie’s side. The man squealed, body bucking upwards into him as his fingers mercilessly tickled him. Buck watched as Eddie’s eyes teared up from laughing so hard, his fingers never ceasing their attack. 

Buck’s hand moved quickly from Eddie’s abs to his armpit, laughing as Eddie’s tried to clamp his arm down. With Eddie’s hands held above his head all he could do was struggle against Buck’s hold. Eddie was laughing uncontrollably, trying to use his body in an attempt to dislodge Buck but to no avail. Buck laughed as he continued his assault, feeling Eddie’s thighs trying to clamp together under his weight. It was a telltale sign that the man was close to wetting his pants. 

“I’ll stop if you say ‘Buck is the greatest, strongest, hottest man I know. I will never compare to his amazingness and I will never win in a tickle fight against him.’” Buck said, his hand moving to burrow into his sides again. Eddie continued to fight against his restraint, his eyes clenched as tears or laughter streamed down his face. 

Suddenly, Buck found himself on his back as Eddie flipped them over. Eddie grinned down at him, raising his eyebrows. Buck tried to struggle against him, but Eddie has his wrists pinned against the mattress. “How about no?” 

Eddie giggled as he leaned above Buck on the bed, releasing one of his wrists to start digging his hands into his side. Buck smirked as he noticed Eddie’s mistake and he quickly flipped them once again. This time, however, Buck severely miscalculated how close they were from the edge, throwing them both off of the bed. 

Buck groaned as his forehead cracked against Eddie’s chin, both of them muttering a soft  _ Fuck! _ as they landed. Buck was splayed across Eddie’s body on the floor, sore forehead resting under the man’s chin. His eyelids were clenched tightly, both in embarrassment and pain. Slowly, as he came out of the initial wave of pain, he could feel the body under him shaking. He pulled himself up on his forearms, hands splayed on either side of Eddie’s head. Buck watched as Eddie continued to try and stifle his laughter, even though Buck could clearly see him doing it now. Buck let out another groan as he rolled off of Eddie, falling onto the floor beside him as he continued laughing. 

“Meirda,” Eddie said, once the laughs finally left his system. He turned his head to look at Buck, the man already staring at him with a look of amusement. Eddie smiled at him, reaching over to flick him on his forehead, giggling at him when he flinched away. “Fuck, we really are like five-year-olds. We need to stop with these tickle fights, man. We are too old!” 

“You started it this time! Same with the damn pillows!” Buck stated, raising his eyebrows at the man. He reached over and punched Eddie in the shoulder, laughing as the man scowled at him. Buck turned his head again, both of them going quiet as they stared up at the ceiling. Eddie was the one to break the silence again, turning to look at the side of Buck’s head as he continued staring up at the ceiling. 

“So um- I get that you and Claire aren’t a couple, right?” Eddie paused, waiting as he watched Buck nod his head. “But why not? You guys seem like you’d be really good together.” 

“I uh- I’m not really her type. I mean I am,” Buck stated, his hands folding over his stomach. “She’s asexual if you know what that means? I didn’t but she explained it to me. Anyway, she’s really not into me.” 

“Oh, uh- yeah,” Eddie stuttered, his head turning back to look above him. “I think she mentioned something about that earlier. But if not her, why don’t you find someone else? I mean it’s been a while since Ally, right? I’m not saying you need to get in another relationship or anything, but why do you not want to?” 

Buck fiddled with his hands as he thought back to his break up with Ally, her voice still echoed in his head after almost a year. “Did I tell you why she broke up with me? She said my job was to much. That she couldn’t continue watching me put my life in danger. I guess I kind of understand it, but I can’t leave firefighting. It’s literally the best thing I have ever done with my life. I just don’t really want to pull someone else into that, I guess.” 

“That makes sense, but still it’s been almost a year. You still could go out and hook up with somebody, right?” Eddie asked, his hand coming up to scratch at his chest. “Like, I get I wasn’t here during the apparently epic Buck 1.0 phase, but surely a few one-night stands wouldn’t make you revert back to that?” 

Buck sighed, his chest heaving with the sound. He let the silence fall between them, his mind reeling with the question. Finally, he replied to Eddie’s question. “I uh- I tried to. A few times.” 

“Wait, what?” Eddie asked, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion. He turned to his side, leaning up onto his elbow to stare at Buck. “When did this happen?”

“I- It was a few months after Ally broke up with me.” Buck started, his eyes falling to look at his hands as they tangled together on his stomach. “I picked up this girl from a bar, took her home. We were uh- getting pretty heavy and got our clothes off. That’s when she saw the scar on my calf. The giant one from my surgery. She didn’t say anything but I could see the disgust on her face, so we called it quits and she left.” 

“What the fuck?” Eddie said, disgust clear on his own face. The fact that someone could be disgusted by something like that befuddled Eddie. He could see the pain in Buck’s eyes as he talked about it. Suddenly, Eddie realized something else Buck had said. “Wait, you said you tried a few times? What happened the other times?” 

“Basically the same thing,” Buck said, finally turning to look Eddie in the eyes. Eddie could see tears threatening to fall from his eyes, pain evident in them. “After the third time, I just- I stopped trying. I wasn’t really into it anyway. But that’s why I don’t want to go out with anyone that our friends keep trying to set me out with.” 

“That is such bullshit! I can’t believe anyone would treat you like that because of a fucking scar? I mean, fuck. Most people have scars! I have plenty of fucking scars from Afghanistan! The fact that there are people out there that act that way pisses me off.” 

“I mean to be fair, I had just gotten my cast off. My leg was pasty as hell and the scar looked pretty damn bad back then. I just, uh. Then the tsunami happened, you know? And I got more scars. I was just too afraid to try again after that.” Buck said, sitting up from his spot on the floor. He hiccuped as he started silently crying, his mind going back to those few dark weeks after the tsunami. Eddie noticed, sitting up and placing his hand on Buck’s shoulder. 

“Hey, hey! It’s okay, Buck. You don’t have to try ever again if you don’t want to!” Eddie said wrapping his arms around the man. Buck sucked in a breath as Eddie held him, wiping his hand over his eyes. 

“Eddie, as much as I appreciate some self-love, I cannot take matters literally into my own hands for the rest of my life.” Buck laughed, throwing his hands up as he turned to look at Eddie. Eddie looked shocked by the statement, but Buck just continued on rambling. “I will go fucking mad before that.”

“I uh- I don’t think it will come to that Buck.” Eddie said eyebrow raised as his eyes searched over Buck’s face. “You just need to find the right person, that won’t care about your scars and who loves you for you. That just might take some time. Until then, I’ll do my best to keep everyone off your back, okay?” 

“Y-yeah, I uh- That would be great,” Buck stuttered, leaning back into Eddie’s embrace. The two sat in silence for a moment before Buck let out a short chuckle, moving to unwrap Eddie’s arms from around him. He stood up and moved over towards his dresser. “Fuck, for some reason I keep crying these past few days. Anyway, were you spending the night? Because it’s getting kind of late and I could just go ahead and loan you some pajamas.” 

“I uh- yeah, sure,” Eddie answered, standing up from his own spot on the floor. He sat down on the corner of the bed, choosing to ignore Buck’s statement about crying so much. Buck pulled some pajama pants from his dresser, turning around to throw a pair at Eddie. 

Eddie caught them easily, standing up and stripping from his own clothes. By the time he’d changed into the borrowed pants, Buck was already climbing into the bed. Eddie sighed, folding his dirty clothes into a pile and dropping them onto the floor by the closet. He climbed into the opposite side of the bed, burrowing under Buck’s warm covers. Buck grunted, sliding over into the space between them, his head pressed against Eddie’s shoulder. 

“I thought we established that I was the little spoon, Edmundo. So why aren’t you cuddling the shit out of me?” Eddie let out a quiet laugh, wrapping his arm around Buck and pulling him impossibly closer. He shivered as he felt Buck’s breath warm against his throat. “That’s much better. Goodnight, Eddie.”

“Night, Buck.” Eddie closed his eyes, arms tightening against the man in his arms. He was close to slipping into a nice deep sleep when he suddenly remembered something. His eyes shot open as he stared down at the mess of dark blonde head situated on his arm. “Hey Buck, wasn’t I supposed to give you hickies or something?” 

“Yeah, we can just worry about that in the morning. Now’s time to sleep.” Buck whispered into Eddie’s neck, snuggling closer to his warm body. Eddie sighed but decided not to say anything, instead of closing his eyes and trying his best to fall asleep. Thankfully, the weight of sleepiness overtook him easily and he slipped into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter is the infamous aquarium scene, which will hopefully be done soon! 
> 
> As always I love reading any comments you may have, so please feel free to leave any comments you have!
> 
> I can also always be reached at my tumblr,[asteroidbill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/asteroidbill)
> 
> XX


	7. Part Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks to [Zel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpaperheartso) for betaing this! Also, it's thanks to her that this chapter was even thought of! This is the product of one of our late night convos. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy this chapter! It's getting sooooo close to the end!

Buck stood outside of his car in Eddie’s driveway, head tilted up towards the sky. After having so many back to back rainy days, it was nice to feel the sun beating down on his face once again. Sighing, he started walking up the steps to Eddie’s front door, slipping his copy of the house key into the doorknob. As he pushed the door open, he was hit with a wall of boisterous sound. Buck smiled as he was met with Christopher’s laughter ringing throughout the house. He silently shut the front door behind him, before making his way toward the noisy kitchen. 

Buck leaned against the door jam, watching as Christopher shrieked and scrambled away from his dad, who was tickling him mercilessly. A fond look came over Buck’s face as he watched the father and son interacting. Christopher was sitting in front of a mostly empty cereal bowl, his father standing behind him as he reached around the chair to tickle the young boy. Buck cleared his throat to announce his presence and laughed when Eddie flinched in realization. “Wow, Eddie. You really can’t stop with the tickle fights, huh?” 

Eddie smiled back at him bashfully, standing up beside Christopher’s chair. He raised his hand to run over his short hair. A few of the longer tufts stuck straight up in the air, causing Buck to grin as he stared at them. Quickly, his eyes glanced over Eddie’s body, a shiver running down his spine as he stared. Though he saw the man in uniform many times at the station, he’d only seen him a few times outside of the station in it. It wasn’t hard to admit the man looked attractive and downright hot in the LAFD tshirt and regulation dress pants. 

“Bucky!” Buck was brought out of his head at the sound of Christopher’s excited greeting. His eyes strayed over to look at the boy, watching as he made grabby hands at him. Buck laughed but strolled over to the boy anyway, crouching down to wrap his arms around him. Christopher wrapped his own arms around him, giggling as Buck dropped a small kiss into his hair. 

“Hey, Chris!” Buck said, pulling back to look at him. He stayed stooped down on the floor as he talked to the boy. “Are you excited for the aquarium trip today?” 

“Yes, yes, yes! I can’t wait to see the stingrays, and the sharks, and the jellyfish! I haven’t been to this aquarium before but Mom used to take me to the one in El Paso all the time. My friend Jonah said that the shark exhibit is really cool here though, so I’m excited to see it.” Christopher kept rambling on about the different exhibits and animals that his friends had talked to him about and how excited he was to see them all. 

While Buck listened to his ramblings, he couldn’t help but glance up at Eddie after Christopher mentioned his mother. The look of concern didn’t go unnoticed by Eddie, who was quick to reassuringly pat Buck on the shoulder. His lip quirked up in the tiniest of smiles, as he walked over towards the kitchen counter and reached into one of the cabinets. He pulled out a clean coffee mug, pouring some fresh coffee into it. Eddie also opened up quite a few sugar packets, dumping them in, before he walked over to hand the cup to Buck. 

“I wanted to say thanks again for going with Chris to the aquarium. It really means a lot to both of us.” Eddie stated as he handed the coffee cup over. Buck stood up from his crouched position, hand shooting out to ruffle Christopher’s hair. The boy smiled up at him, picking his spoon up again, before digging back into his bowl of cereal. 

Buck turned to look at Eddie, humming in appreciation as he took a sip of his overly sweet coffee. Eddie had calculated the perfect amount of sugar in his coffee. “Like I said, I had absolutely no problem taking him. Just glad I was available to go.” 

“Yeah, I wish I could have gotten out of this shift, but they needed someone to fill in for Smith and I’d already promised to take it.” He paused to watch Christopher play with the marshmallows in his cereal, eyes softening. “Just make sure you take plenty of pictures all right?” Eddie asked, leaning back against his fridge. He crossed his arms in front of him, watching as Buck closed his eyes in satisfaction after taking another sip of his coffee. He turned his attention to his son, pointing his finger at him. “And you mister, best keep your eyes and ears open. I want to hear all about your trip after I get home tonight, alright?” 

“Yes, Dad!” Christopher answered him, smiling at his father as he picked up his glass of orange juice. 

“Damn, Eddie.” Buck groaned as he sipped down the last of his cup of coffee. He tipped the cup up, trying to drain every last drop. He sighed as he brought the cup away from his face, tongue coming out to wipe up the leftover liquid on his top lip. His eyes flicked up to meet Eddie’s, which flashed up from their gaze on Buck’s mouth. “That coffee was amazing! Make me another cup?” 

Eddie sighed and rolled his eyes as he reached his hand out for the coffee cup, muttering something about not being a personal barista. Buck grinned as he passed the empty cup back to Eddie, grateful that his puppy dog eyes never failed to work on the man. Eddie had turned around to fill the cup back up, giving Buck an amazing view of his ass in his uniform pants. Buck sighed as his gaze fell to Eddi’s ass, the materially stretched almost obscenely across it. He had to bite back a groan as Eddie turned back around, his eyes thankfully shooting back up to Eddie’s before the man caught him staring. 

Buck smiled appreciatively as Eddie handed the now full cup back to him, wrapping both of his hands around the warm mug. He moaned as he brought the mug up to his mouth, eyes closing as the hot coffee flowed down his throat. “Damn, just perfect.” 

Eddie hummed as he walked over to Christopher, picking up his now-empty bowl and glass, taking them both to the dishwasher. Buck watched as Christopher wiped both his hands and his mouth on the paper towel that Eddie had provided him. He transferred his coffee cup to one hand, reaching into his back pocket to pull his phone out of his back pocket. Checking the time, he grimaced as he noticed that they needed to get a move on if they wanted to make it to Christopher’s school on time. 

“Shoot, we need to get going here soon, Chris,” Buck announced as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. He tipped his coffee cup up, downing the contents quickly. He flinched as the hot liquid burned his mouth. Buck placed the now empty mug on the kitchen counter, turning to grab Christopher’s crutches from where they leaned against the table. He handed them to the boy, watching as he pulled himself out of the dining table chair. 

“Did he need to take anything with him?” Buck asked, turning to look back at Eddie. Christopher made his way over to his father, wrapping his arms tightly around his legs. Buck watched as he smiled down at the boy, patting his hair, before looking back to Buck. 

“His teachers didn’t say he did, so I doubt it. I’ll be back a little after you guys get back. Do you mind watching him till then?” Eddie asked, rubbing a hand through his hair. 

“Yeah, of course! We’ll have even more of a blast!” Christopher let go of his father and started walking towards the front door. The two grown men followed behind him, Buck pulling Christopher’s jacket from the coat rack. He stooped down and helped stabilize the boy as he pulled his arms through it. Smiling, he pressed a kiss to his forehead before standing back up. 

Eddie walked them both out to Buck’s jeep and helped strap Christopher into his booster seat. Buck stood back, letting the two Diaz boys say their goodbyes. When Eddie stepped back after kissing Christopher’s head, Buck shot him a quick half-smile. “Alright, we should get this show on the road. We’re already running a little late as it is.”

“Okay, yeah. I wouldn’t want you guys to miss your field trip. I’ll see you after work, okay. I love you.” Though Eddie had turned to Chris when he said it, Buck couldn’t help as his heart skipped a beat. The small phrase left him slightly breathless, as he watched Eddie shut his jeep door and turned towards him. Eddie smiled at him, reaching out to pat his shoulder. “You best get going right?” 

Buck blinked at him, his brain still stuck on the  _ I love you _ . Finally, his brain caught up and he grinned at Eddie. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you later, man.”

Eddie chuckled, nudging him slightly and watched as Buck got into the driver's seat of his jeep. As soon as Buck started his car he let out a sigh of relief, turning to look back at Christopher. He grinned at the boy, heart filling with warmth as the boy returned it. “Buck and Christopher’s Jams?” 

“Yeah!” Christopher hollered, clapping his hands. Buck laughed, pulling out his phone and queuing up his and Christopher’s specialty playlist. They had spent weeks putting in songs that both of them loved, listening to it every time the two of them rode in the car together. Buck smiled as the music started filtering through the speakers and Chris started singing along. He checked his rearview mirror, pulling out of the driveway and into the street. He glanced back at the house and waved to Eddie, who stood at the front door and watched them pull away. 

A few minutes into the car ride, Christopher’s favorite song started and Buck laughed at the boy’s squeal of joy. He turned around to look at him, watching as he danced and belted out the lyrics, his eyes closed. He turned back to face the road, and took a page out of Christopher’s book and started singing loudly. 

“I’m walking on sunshine, Woah! And don’t it feel good!” Buck bellowed along with the radio, fingers tapping against the steering wheel. Chris giggled but continued singing along to the song. As the song faded into another one, Buck’s singing mellowed out, Christopher continuing to belt out the songs. 

About five minutes away from the school, they hit the worst of the morning traffic. Buck groaned as the jeep came to a standstill in the traffic, noticing that they had about fifteen minutes until school is supposed to start. Christopher took no notice of this inconvenience, however, continuing to sing along wholeheartedly. 

As the next song’s first beats started playing, Buck glanced into the rearview mirror and grinned as he made eye contact with the boy. Beyonce’s  _ Single Ladies  _ started playing through the speakers and Buck reached over to turn the volume up. As the lyrics started, Buck began belting out the lyrics watching as Christopher did the same. During a particularly boring day, weeks after Buck had gotten out of his cast, he and Christopher spent an afternoon learning the dance to this song. Or rather, Buck did. Christopher laughing as he watched and learned the hand movements, sitting on Buck’s living room couch. It had been a memorable experience when Eddie had walked in during the middle of the fourth run through. He’d made fun of Buck for months after it happened. 

“All the single ladies! Now put ya hands up!” Buck sang, turning around to look at Christopher as he threw his hand up. Chris threw his head back with a giggle but repeated the motion as well. When the chorus hit, Buck waved his hand to the beat of the song. Finally, traffic started moving again as the song came to a pause. The last few songs that played through were ones that Christopher had demanded to be put on the playlist, ones that Buck paid no real particular attention to. 

Finally, they reached the entrance to Christopher’s school with only a few minutes to spare. Buck was quick to notice the crowd of students climbing onto a big yellow school bus at the front of the school, pulling into the nearest open parking space. It took no time to get the jeep turned off and get Christopher out, the two of them soon walking up to the front of the school within only a few minutes. 

“Good morning, Christopher! How are you this morning?” Someone called out as they rounded the back of the school bus. The older woman stepped away from another group of adults, who Buck presumed were other chaperones. 

“Hi, Ms. Heanny! I had a great morning! My Bucky let me listen to our playlist on the ride to school!” Christopher beamed, looking up at the older lady. Ms. Heanny grinned back at him and ruffled his hair, her eyes quickly moving to look at Buck. 

“You must be Buck? Christopher here was so excited when he told me his Bucky was coming on the trip. Glad to finally meet you.” She said, sticking her hand out. Buck grinned and took his hands out of his pockets, reaching out and shaking her hand. 

“Hi, yeah! It’s nice to meet you as well! I don’t think we’ve ever really had a chance to meet before? It’s been a while since I’ve been able to drop him off myself.” Buck explained, eyes darting away as he watched Christopher dart off to stand by another group of kids. He smiled at the scene fondly, glad that Christopher was able to be surrounded by so many friends. He turned back to Ms. Heanny, noticing the small smile stretched across her own face. 

“Well, that is certainly okay. Christopher does speak very fondly of both his dads all the time. I’m sure he’s glad that you were able to make it even though Mr. Diaz was not.” Buck’s eyebrow rocked up at the ‘both dads’ statement but chose not to mention it. It wasn’t like he didn’t often forget that Christopher wasn’t actually his son too. 

Suddenly, the other teachers began herding the children onto the bus. Ms. Heanny turned back to look at him with a small smile. “I’m not sure if you were aware or not, but we sadly don’t have the room for all the parent chaperones to ride with the children. If you would like, Christopher could ride to the aquarium with you or he could ride the bus?”

Buck wasn’t surprised that he couldn’t accompany Chris on the bus, something he was eternally grateful for. The last thing he wanted was to ever step forward on a school bus ever again. He pondered on letting Christopher ride with him, but a quick glance at the boy standing in line with his friends helped him make that decision quickly. “I’ll let Christopher ride the bus with his friends. Besides, I used to have a blast riding the bus during field trips.” 

“They are definitely fun times for the children,” Ms. Heanny chuckled, a slightly scared look in her eyes. Buck could relate now that he was older. He couldn’t imagine having to deal with forty plus rowdy children on a school bus. Ms. Heanny patted him on the shoulder soothingly. “Why don’t you say goodbye to your boy, huh? Buses should be pulling away shortly and then we will be headed on our way. Again, it was nice to meet you, Mr. Buckley.” 

“And you as well,” Buck replied, slipping away towards the line of students. Christopher easily spotted him walking his way, a giant grin spreading across his face as he started waving wildly. Buck dropped to his knees as he reached him, pulling the small boy into his arms in a tight embrace. He smiled into his soft, curly hair as the boy snuggled closer into his chest. 

“Okay, buddy,” Buck said pulling back. “I can’t get on the bus with you, but I’ll meet you there, okay?” 

Christopher smiled at him, reaching up to pat his cheek lightly. “Okay, Bucky!” 

Buck laughed and hugged him once more, his face buried in his curls. Finally, Buck stepped back and watched him walk onto the bus with his friends, waving to the boy once he saw him take a seat near one of the windows. After Christopher waved back, Buck made his way back to his parked jeep. He, unlike most of the other parent chaperones, waited until the buses started to leave the parking lot before he started toward the aquarium. 

Sadly, the car ride was much quieter without Christopher singing along to the music. Buck still allowed the same playlist to play through the car speakers, slightly less exaggerated as he sang along to many of the songs. It was an overall chill drive, as Buck followed the school buses through downtown Los Angeles and soon enough was pulling into the Aquarium of the Pacific’s parking lot. 

It took almost no time to find a convenient parking space, and soon Buck was standing with the other chaperones as the kids got off the bus. As soon as Christopher stepped off the bus he rushed to Buck’s side, arms wrapping around his legs. Buck laughed as the boy hugged him, reaching down to run his fingers through his soft curls. 

“Come on Christopher, we should start getting in line with the rest of your class,” Buck stated, watching as the teachers started lining the student up to get their tickets. Christopher grinned up at him, before walking over to get in line behind two boys in his class. Buck watched as he began talking to them, stepping up behind Christopher and placing a hand on his shoulder. 

“Bucky, these are my friends Jonathan and Jonah! They are brothers!” Christopher introduced his friends, Buck smiling at the two boys, obviously identical twins. The two boys smiled back at him and began talking about the different ocean animals they wanted to see. Christopher joined in, and Buck listened to them all intently as they waited in line. Finally, one of the teachers Buck had yet to meet, handed them their tickets, waving them on behind the rest of the class. 

“You must be the famous ‘Bucky’ Christopher always talks about? My name is Mr. Kincaid, I’m his English teacher.” The man, Mr. Kincaid, stuck out his hand and Buck grasped it in a firm handshake. 

“Yeah, I’m Buck. It’s so nice to meet you! I really haven’t had the chance to meet any of his teachers this year.” Buck explained, trying not to think of the many reasons he had been so unavailable to Christopher this past year. 

“That’s no problem, we all understand. Christopher has told us about how busy both of his fathers are. I can’t imagine being a firefighter gives you much free time.” Once again, there was the ‘fathers’ comment. Buck was starting to question whether or not these teachers were aware that he was not, in fact, Christopher’s father. Still, he decided not to interrupt the man and deny it. “Anyway, I see that Jonathan and Jonah are sticking close with you two. Would you mind too terribly, watching over them as well?” 

“Oh, no it’s no problem at all! I’m sure Christopher and them would love it.” Buck responded, smiling as all three boys grinned up at him. He turned back to Mr. Kincaid, who started waving them through the ticket booth. 

“The class is meeting up at the touch pools, just inside the entrance. The children are permitted to touch the sea creatures but we do ask that they be gentle. I’ll see you all inside okay?” Mr. Kincaid asked, the boys all nodding in agreement. Buck sighed as big grins spread across their faces, all of them rushing into the aquarium entrance. He followed behind them slowly, taking his time as he glanced around the large room. 

Large fish tanks lined the room, colorful fishes and other sea creatures swimming through the. In the center was a large touch pool, with children surrounding the edges. Buck watched as Christopher and his friends finally reached the edge of the touch pool, hands automatically reaching into run their fingers over the different creatures. He was afraid that Christopher would have struggled to stay upright, without someone to help balance him, but he smiled as the twins took turns keeping an arm around him as he leaned over the pool. Buck was grateful that he’d seemed to find friends that were willing to help him. 

Buck walked closer, standing far enough away that he’d be able to reach the boys quickly if something happened, but far enough that they were also able to explore independently. As he glanced around the area, he saw most of the other chaperones doing the same. They mostly stood in small clumps, talking to one another, as the kept eyes on their designated groups. Buck was glad that most of the other parents seemed to pay him no mind, but his silent exile sadly didn’t last long. 

“Oh, Mr. Buckley! I didn’t know you’d be coming on this trip?” Buck had turned at the sound of his name, almost visibly cringing as one of Christopher’s teachers approached him. Ms. Young was technically a teacher's aide, far too young to have her teaching degree yet. Buck shoved his hands in his pockets as she approached, smiling tightly as her eyes eagerly looked him up and down. A shiver ran down his back as he felt violated by her penetrating gaze. As she came to a stop beside him, she smirked up at him. “You haven’t been around to pick Christopher up from school in a while. I’ve missed seeing you in the pick-up line.” 

Buck didn’t miss the almost hungry glint in her eyes.“Yeah, um- I’ve been a little too busy to get Chris after school.” Buck stated rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes left hers for a split second, wandering back to the boys and making sure they were okay. Christopher was no longer hands deep in the touch pool, instead leaning back on both of his crutches and laughing as the twins splashed at each other lightly. Buck almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand settle on his bicep, wide eyes swinging back to look at Ms. Young. 

“So, I’ve been wanting to ask if you’d like to grab a drink with me this weekend? Or maybe we could just go straight to my place?” Her hand squeezed his bicep as she eyed him hungrily. Buck gulped, eyes looking around to hopefully find help as he looked for an easy way to let this woman down. Sadly, he couldn’t see anyone that could help him out of his current predicament, even sweet, old Ms. Heanny. 

“Listen, I um-” Buck started, words freezing in his mouth. He wasn’t sure how to approach this, knowing that the woman wouldn't easily back down. He’d have to come up with some excuse and quick. Suddenly, Buck went stiff as muscled arms wrapped around his waist. 

“Actually, Buck here is already taken.” The person said, their breath hitting against the outside of Buck’s ear. His body shivered, as he turned his head at the familiar voice, eyes widening as he did indeed see Eddie standing pressed up behind him. Eddie had a stern look on his face, glaring not-so-subtle daggers at Ms. Young. Quickly, she removed her hand from Buck’s bicep, something he was eternally grateful for. 

Buck went to turn in Eddie’s arms, confused as to how the man was here. Before he was able to get his mouth open, Christopher was right beside them wrapping his arms around his father and burying his head in his stomach. “Dad! I thought you were at work? What are you doing here?” 

Eddie smiled down at his son, opening his mouth to answer but Buck beat him to the punch. “Yeah, I thought you were covering a shift? Did something happen? Are you still on duty?” 

Buck’s eyes were wide as he took in the fact that Eddie was still dressed in the same uniform as earlier in the morning. His eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area, expecting to see more of the team around the area. It would be his luck that an emergency would happen at the exact location he and Christopher were. Eddie reached out and put a hand on his cheek, pulling Buck’s attention to him. 

“Everything is fine, mi amor. The captain let me go ahead and leave, he knew how bummed I was about missing Christopher’s field trip. I was so excited to get to you guys, I decided not to change. Nothing is wrong, and besides this place is a little out of our jurisdiction don’t you think?” Eddie was looking deep into his eyes, and after another moment in Eddie’s space, his body finally began to relax. He’d not even thought about the fact that they were definitely too far from the station jurisdiction. 

“Oh, okay. I just noticed the uniform and I got a little scared. So everything is fine?” Buck asked, just to be sure. Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Buck turned to see Ms. Young glowering at them with her arms crossed. 

“As  _ wonderful  _ as this little display is, the group is moving on.” With a huff and a roll of her eyes, she turned on her heel and walked towards the rest of the group. Sure enough, when Buck looked back at the rest of the group, the chaperones were starting to herd the children towards one of the hallways. 

“I really am glad you’re here though,” Buck told Eddie after he rounded up his group of three boys. The five of them started after the rest of the group, all three boys in awe at the different sea creatures that inhabited the surrounding tanks. Eddie smiled at him, knocking his shoulder against his. “And thank you for getting Christopher’s teacher off my back. She was starting to give me some serious bedroom eyes back there.”

“Yeah, I could see how uncomfortable you were getting. Told you I’d always have your back.” Eddie said, throwing him a smirk over his shoulder. The two of them followed behind Christopher and his friends, chatting lowly as they admired the different creatures. Christopher made it a point to stop and read every info board, his eyes lighting up in excitement. There were dozens of pictures already taken with Buck’s phone, Christopher’s awe-struck face being the main feature in most of the pictures. Even though he technically did not need the picture, now that Eddie was here, he couldn’t help but take one every few moments. 

Soon enough they were stepping back out into a wide-open room, this time a giant pool filled with stingray’s sat in the middle of the room. All the children hurried to the raised edge, just short enough for them to be able to reach into. Buck and Eddie stayed a ways back, letting Christopher be independent and capturing the moment on camera. It didn’t take long for Buck to notice however, that Chris was struggling to both stay balanced and touch the stingrays. 

“Hey, Chris,” Buck said, gaining the boy's attention as he approached him. The boy turned to look up at him with a smile, Buck rubbing his hand through his curls. “Would you tell me more about the stingrays? They look pretty interesting!” 

“Of course, Bucky!” Christopher launched into a highly detailed explanation of the stingrays, something that completely surprised Buck until he remembered that Christopher had checked out a book on oceanic creatures a few weeks prior. Christopher leaned back over the aquarium pool, mouth going a mile a minute. Buck stepped up behind him, hand fisting into the boy’s shirt to keep him steady. 

Christopher stopped mid-sentence when he felt Buck’s hand twist into his shirt. He turned back to look up at Buck, a small smile on his face as he picked up the flow of information. This time, Christopher leaned further over the pool and reached out to touch the stingray. Buck smiled down at the boy fondly, watching as he squealed when his hands touched the slick, slippery surface of the animal. 

As Buck continued listening to Christopher ramble on about stingrays, he heard the sound of a picture being taken. He turned his head, hand tightening in Christopher’s shirt, as he saw Eddie snapping pictures of the two. Eddie looked away from his camera, eyes connecting with Buck’s as he smiled at him. Buck grinned back, raising his other hand in a small wave. He watched as Eddie’s eyes shifted back to the phone, the shutter of another picture being taken.

“Hey, Bucky?” Christopher asked, pulling Buck’s attention back to him. The boy was staring up at him, his eyes shining behind his glasses. Buck smiled down at him, his eyebrow raised urging the boy to continue. “Do you wanna touch the stingrays? They’re really weird feeling.”

Buck pondered the question for a moment. He hadn’t been to an aquarium since some double date back in high school, but the stingray exhibits had always been his favorite. “Yeah, sure. I used to love stingrays!”

Christopher smiled at him, stepping back from the pool and leaning onto his crutches once again. Buck unfisted the material of his shirt and stepped up to the raised edge of the pool. He splayed his hand out over the top of the water, feeling the coolness of it enveloping his hand. Soon enough, one of the larger stingrays was making its way around his side of the exhibit and he stuck his hand out to touch it.

The stingray, however, had other ideas. As it glided closer to where Buck was standing, close to the surface of the water, it raised its fin. The fin smacked across the top of the water, causing both a loud sound and a giant splash of water to spray up. Buck stood directly in the path of the water, taking the full brunt of it as it soaked him. 

Buck could hear Christopher’s laugh as he stood there in shock, stepping back from the pool tank. He could feel the water dripping down his face, his t-shirt molding to his body. The water had been cold when it hit him and combined with the cool air conditioning of the aquarium, Buck was shivering. He could feel his nipples pebbling under the material of his drenched t-shirt from the cool air. 

He heard another bout of deep laughter and spun around to glare at Eddie. As he’d turned he heard the telltale sign of the camera shutter going off again. Eddie finally looked away from the phone screen to truly look at Buck, fighting to hold back a groan. Buck’s eyes watched as Eddie swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing with the movement. When Eddie finally met his eyes, his pupils were blown wide. 

“Mr. Buckley.” Buck turned his head to find Ms. Heanny standing beside him. A strained smile was stretched across her face, and Buck immediately wondered what was wrong. “You know that the faculty has no problem with your relationship with Mr. Diaz, but some of the other chaperones are beginning to express some concern.” 

By this point, Eddie had come to stand by them. Buck’s eyes widened as Ms. Heanny blatantly stated that the entire faculty of Christopher's school thought he and Eddie were in a relationship together. After the initial shock wore off, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as to why any of the chaperones would have a problem with it. 

“Why? I mean-,” Eddie stuttered, folding his arms in front of his chest. “What I am trying to say is I don’t understand what the problem is. We haven’t done anything inappropriate, at least not to my knowledge.” 

Eddie made a point to wrap his arm around Buck’s waist. He was slightly confused by the gesture, but he welcomed it, leaning further into Eddie’s side and seeking his warmth. Ms. Heanny’s eyes tracked the movement. 

“It’s not that, boys.” Ms. Heanny was quick to establish, her eyes closing as she heaved a sigh. “Mr. Buckley, as I am sure you noticed, when you got splashed by the stingray, your entire shirt became see-through.”

_ Not at all, I was wondering why the fuck I was freezing _ , Buck thought sarcastically. While all he did was roll his eyes, he did not voice his thoughts. 

“Well, the other chaperones happened to notice some, um- bruises through your shirt.” Ms. Heanny explained, looking at him pointedly. Buck’s eyes widened and he looked down at his torso. The wet material clung to him like a second skin, and Ms. Heanny was right. Most of the love bites the Eddie had given him a few days prior stood out through the transparent fabric. 

“Oh, oh!” Buck said, eyes shooting up to Eddie who was also glancing down at his chest. He looked back at Ms. Heanny and was quick to dismiss her assumption. “It’s not what you are thinking! They are love bites, not bruises! I’m on blood thinners and I just bruise really easily. Eddie just gets carried away sometimes and…” 

Ms. Heanny was quick to cut him off, raising a hand in a nonoffensive gesture. “That’s not what I’m saying, Mr. Buckley. I’m sure, should something be amiss in your relationship, you would have it covered. Nevertheless, the other chaperones and faculty would kindly appreciate it if you could change shirts? Between you and me, I think Miss Young is having a little trouble controlling herself over there and it would be less distracting for everyone.”

She sent him a tiny wink and jerked her head a little to the left. Buck and Eddie both turned their heads, and sure enough, there was Miss Young. Her eyes were trained on Buck’s chest, heated and dark. Buck uncomfortably crossed his arms in front of him, turning back to look at Ms. Heanny. “Yeah, that’ll um- that should be no problem. I don’t really have an extra shirt with me, but I can go buy one from the gift shop?”

“Actually, I think I have an extra shirt in my work bag out in the truck? If you want we could run out and get it?” Eddie offered, inclining his head back towards the aquarium entrance. He turned to look at Ms. Heanny. “That is if someone could watch the boys for the few minutes we are gone?”

“I don’t see a problem with that.” Ms. Heanny stated, smiling at the two boys. She looked over her shoulder at the group of children and chaperones. “I’ll make sure the boys are looked after, just hurry back. I think we are going to be headed through the shark caves here soon.” 

“Thank you so much! I promise we won’t take too long!” Buck said, turning towards Eddie. “Let me just tell Christopher where we are going so he doesn’t freak out, okay?”

Eddie nodded his head and removed his arm from around Buck’s waist as the man stepped away to crouch in front of where Christopher was talking to one of his classmates. He tapped Christopher on the shoulder to get his attention, a smile tugging on his lips as the boy eagerly turned to him. “Hey, buddy. Your dad and I have to go get me a new shirt from his truck. Ms. Heanny said she’d watch over you guys, but it shouldn’t take us but a few minutes.”

“Okay!” Christopher said a big smile painted across his face. Buck matched the brightness and leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. He stood up from his crouch and made his way back towards Eddie. From there the two of them started making their way back through the aquarium in silence, rushing as fast as they could without actually running. Occasionally, their arms would brush against each other and shivers would travel down Buck’s back. 

“Sorry, if it smells a little musky but it was my workout shirt yesterday,” Eddie said, breaking the silence, as he pulled open the back door of his truck. He pulled his duffle bag out from the back floorboard and started ruffling through the contents. Finally, he pulled out a wrinkled plain black t-shirt and tossed it to Buck. 

“That’s fine,” Buck said, catching the shirt and sniffing it. It definitely smelled musky, covered in the scent of Eddie’s sweat. It was definitely a smell Buck would love to sink his nose into in another setting. Preferably in a bed, with a sweaty, naked Eddie under him. Or better yet, Eddie over top of him, surrounding him, pushing into him.

_ Okay, time to stop  _ that _ particular train of thought _ , Buck shook his head as his cock twitched to life in his pants. He blinked and pulled the shirt away from his nose, making sure to fake disgust at the smell. He tossed it back to Eddie, who caught it, but shot him a confused look. Buck just rolled his eyes in mock annoyance and grabbed the edges of his soaked t-shirt in his hands. It took far too much effort to pull the material off, as it stuck like glue to his body. 

Once he finally pulled it free from himself, he tossed the soaking wet ball of material to Eddie, who was not prepared to catch it. Instead, the material smacked against his face before he caught it. Rolling his eyes, Eddie tossed the shirt in the backseat of his truck and tossed the other shirt back at Buck. 

“Thanks, man,” Buck chuckled, pulling the shirt over his head and down his torso. The material was a little tighter across his chest and shoulders, and he twisted his arms to get the sleeves to feel right. He startled as Eddie slammed the door shut to his truck and the two of them started walking back towards the aquarium. Since Eddie had arrived later than the school group, he’d had to walk farther down in the parking lot. 

“Hey, Eddie?” Buck asked, turning to look at the side of Eddie’s head. Eddie glanced at him, eyebrow raised in question, and bumped his shoulder with a smirk. Buck rolled his eyes at his antics but continued on. “I noticed that all of the teachers seemed to think we were in a relationship. I mean, yeah you played that up with Miss Young so she’d back off, but Ms. Heanny and Chris’s English teacher both mentioned something about it before you even got here?” 

“Yeah, I uh- I seemed to notice that too. I guess it’s because Christopher talks about you so much, and you were pretty involved in his school life for a while. I mean you used to attend parent-teacher conferences and open houses. Remember that time you made Bobby teach you how to make brownies from scratch so Chris had something for the bake sale?” 

The two of them paused as they got back to the entrance of the aquarium, flashing their tickets to the ticket taker. As the young woman waved them back through, Buck turned to Eddie with a smirk and pushed against his shoulder gently. “Yeah, and who else was gonna make them? You? You would have used the nasty box shit or bought premade brownies. Have you seen some of those PTA moms? We would have been made fun of for months!”

“See? That’s what I’m saying! You treat Christopher as if he is your own child, and I’m not saying that's a bad thing! Just that some of the teachers are going to get confused when you’re so involved with his school stuff.” 

They had made it back to the end of the hallway that opened into the stingray exhibit, and Buck noticed that the class was no longer there.  _ They must have gone on to the shark tunnels _ , he thought as he continued to argue with Eddie. “I can understand that, but why do they think that means that  _ we _ are in a relationship! I’m just like co-parenting with my best friend? What about that points to us being together? It just makes no sense to me?”

Eddie opened his mouth in rebuttal but froze as he heard someone start screaming. Buck froze too, head snapping to the entrance of the shark tunnels, where the sound came from. Before Eddie could say anything, Buck shot off in a run towards the tunnels, thinking of nothing other than  _ Get to Christopher! _ . 

As soon as Buck stepped into the tunnels he could distinctly hear Christopher screaming his name in a cry of anguish. It made his adrenaline run higher as he looked around at his surroundings, noticing the openness of the exhibit. He was surrounded by water on all sides, blue tones casting glares of light on the half walls lining the hallway. If it wasn’t for the constant thought of  _ Christopher! Christopher! Christopher! _ running through his head, Buck probably would have been paralyzed in his own fear.

Buck snapped himself out of his fear, the thought of getting Christopher to safety being his only main priority. He raced down the main tunnel, pushing other patrons out of his way with no apology. Cursing when he’d reached a fork in the path, he took the one that seemed to lead towards Christopher. This particular tunnel was filled with more people than the main one, and he pushed through each one with no regard. His eyes kept shifting from side to side, looking in every dark corner or small crevice for Christopher. 

After checking every branching tunnel, Buck realized that he’d made the wrong turn and headed back to the fork off the main path. He continued pushing through the other people, crying out when he could no longer hear Christopher screaming for him. Buck ran down one of the more deserted tunnels, one that was darker than the other. He almost started screaming when he found himself in another dead-end tunnel until he found Christopher crouched in a dark corner with Miss Young crouched over him. 

Buck rushed to his side, and pushed Miss Young out of the way, crouching beside the boy and pulling him into his arms. Buck left out a breath of relief, body shuddering with adrenaline as he graphed the boy and pulled him into his lap. “It’s okay, Chris. I’m right here! I’m right here, everything is okay! The water can’t get to you, okay? You’re safe, I promise you. We are safe!”

“It’s his own fault! He couldn’t keep up with the rest of the group and then he got lost! He is too old to be blubbering like a damned baby!” Buck heard from over his shoulder, head whipping around to stare at Miss Young in disbelief. She stood there with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. 

“Don’t you  _ ever  _ speak like that about my son!” Buck’s head swiveled around to look in the other direction, eyes falling on an enraged Eddie. Eddie started towards Miss Young, backing her up against the wall of the exhibit, waving his finger in her face. “You have  _ no idea _ what he has been through, okay? He was right there on the pier when that tsunami hit, he got swept away by all that water! Buck was the one who kept  _ our son  _ safe, just as he  _ always  _ will!” 

Buck watched Eddie in awe until he heard Christopher whimper and burrow his head deeper into Buck’s chest. Buck turned back to look at the top of his head, heaving another sigh of relief as he ran his fingers through the boy’s curls. 

“Mr. Diaz, I would appreciate it if you would back away from Miss Young.” Buck looked up, noticing Mr. Kincaid standing at the opening of the tunnel. Instead of looking angry, he looked disappointed. Eddie turned to look at him, stepping away from the young woman. His eyes fell to where Buck was sitting on the floor with Christopher in his lap. All anger draining from his body, he crouched down behind Buck and placed a hand on his shoulder to steady himself. 

“Hey, buddy,” Eddie said softly, all anger gone from his voice. He ran his fingers through his son’s hair, voice cracking as Christopher looked up at him with red, tear-stained eyes. Buck whimpered at the look, hand coming up to wipe a stray tear away from his cheek. “Chris, can you explain to me what happened while we were gone please?”

“I-I… We went into the shark tunnels and at first, it was fun and really pretty.” Christopher started, looking between both Eddie and Buck. “B-but then, I-I started getting tired from walking all day, and so I stopped for a min-minute. When I loo-looked I couldn’t find an-anyone and then I got lost trying to find the group.” 

Christopher stopped as sobs wracked his tiny body, chest heaving with each hiccuping breath. He dropped his head back onto Buck’s chest. A strangled sound escaped Eddie's throat as he watched his son lose himself to his fear. 

“See this is exactly what I am talking about, he brought this on himself. If he wasn’t strong enough to keep up with the rest of the children, he shouldn’t have come on this trip. Now he needs to stop blubbering on and grow up!” Buck and Eddie whipped their heads around in shock. 

“Miss Young, I am ashamed of you! I would have thought you of all people would understand that these children are all uniquely different and some of them may struggle with things others won’t. You know what this school is about and the different needs each child may have.” Ms. Heanny said, disappointment shadowing her features as she berated the younger teaching assistant. 

“B-but I…” 

“No! I am not listening to anything you wish to say.” Ms. Heanny interrupted, pointing a finger in her direction. “What you are going to do right now is leave the premises and not show up to work at all tomorrow. I’m sure the principal will contact you soon in regards to your employment here.” 

Miss Young started to protest but Ms. Heanny’s stern look made her think better of it. Instead, she just huffed and turned towards the exit of the tunnels. When she was out of sight once and for all, Ms. Heanny turned to them. “I am so sorry, I cannot believe that we didn’t realize that he’d gotten separated from the group. I should have kept a better eye on him. Is he okay?”

“I think he’ll be okay,” Buck sighed, glancing back down at the head cuddled into his chest. “I think he just got overwhelmed by getting lost and then surrounded by the water. Would it be okay if Eddie and I went ahead and took him home? I think it might do him some good.”

“Of course, Mr. Buckley, that would be no problem at all. Although, if I remember correctly, the penguins are just after the tunnels and should be the last exhibit. Perhaps, you’d like to move onto there instead of leaving?”

Buck looked down at Christopher and pondered whether or not it would be best for them to go ahead and leave. Deciding he could not quite make the decision for him, he asked Christopher what he’d rather do. Christopher quietly informed him that he’d ‘very much’ like to see the penguins before they left. 

“I think we’ll go ahead and move on to the penguins if that’s okay?” Ms. Heanny nodded, a small sad smile stretched on her face as she watched the three boys stand up. Christopher’s cheeks were stained with tear tracks and his eyes lacked their usual sparkle as he stared at the floor. Ms. Heanny directed them on the best route to get through the tunnels, pointing out the arrows that provided the directions. Buck smacked his forehead with his palm, feeling stupid for not having noticed the signs before. 

“Thank you,” Buck gave her a small half-smile as she and Mr. Kincaid turned and walked back out of the tunnel. He sighed and crouched down in front of Christopher. “How ya’ doing, buddy? Are you still tired?”

Christopher didn’t verbally answer him but did nod his head as he rubbed at his eyes. Buck sighed lightly, realized that the ordeal had to have exhausted him. Buck wrapped his arms around Christopher and stood up, adjusting the boy as he tightened his arms and legs around him. Eddie stepped up behind him and removed the crutches from Christopher’s hold. 

Christopher rested his head in the crook of Buck’s neck, shielding his eyes from the aquarium’s shark exhibit. By following the arrows, Buck was able to navigate them out of the tunnels easily. 

As soon as they stepped out of the tunnel, Buck immediately understood that this was the last exhibit. The room looked as if it was an added feature, and did not have quite the same artistic and fun feel as the rest of the aquarium. The room was filled by the single penguin exhibit, which honestly was a bit disappointing, and the entrance to the gift shop. 

“Hey, Chris?” Buck asked as they stepped into the large room. Christopher lifted his head off Buck’s shoulder and looked at him. Buck smiled at him, lifting his hand and stroking his thumb across the boy’s cheek. “I’m gonna hand you off to your dad, okay? I think he’s feeling a little left out from all the love.”

“Okay, Bucky. Can we still see the penguins?” Christopher asked as Eddie grabbed him out of Buck’s arms. His father gave him an affirmative, glancing at Buck once he got ahold of him. Buck nodded at the obvious question, giving Eddie a small smile. 

“I’m gonna go sit on one of these benches back here, okay? You two have fun looking at the penguins.” Buck stepped back from them and headed towards one of the back walls. As he dropped down on to one of the benched, he watched the two Diaz boys. 

Buck’s head dropped, emotions flooding his body now that he knew Christopher was safe. He had been terrified, adrenaline pulsing through his veins since he heard that first scream. Tears started gathering at the corner of his eyes, and he released a shuddering breath. Now that he was able to think with a clearer mind, he realized how much he’d been transported back to the day of the tsunami as he looked for Christopher. He had rushed around almost exactly the same way as he had that day, pushing past people and caring about nothing more than getting to Christopher. 

His breath started coming faster as his mind fixated on the feelings of the worst day of his life. He thought having a fire truck crush his leg was the worst thing to ever happen to him, and then he’d lost Christopher, his best friend’s son, the boy he loved like his own. He’d been more worried about saving other people than just keeping him safe, and then another wave came and he was gone, and he had no idea how he was going to explain it to Eddie. How he was going to explain to the love of his life that he had lost his son and how he was- 

“-ck! Buck! Hey, hey! Listen to me! You're okay!” Buck's focus snapped back to him, his eyes rising to zero in on Eddie. Eddie, who was holding his face between his hands, his eyes wide with worry. Buck let out a shaky breath, body shuddering. “Hey, you’re okay. I’m okay and Christopher is okay. You did good! You found him. You found  _ our _ son”

A sob tore from his chest.“But it’s my fault! He shouldn’t have gotten lost in the first place! I should have been with him! Eddie, I lost him again! How can you even stand to look at me? I can’t even keep your son in my sight without him getting lost or- or hurt!” Buck’s eyes were wide as tears streamed down his face. Eddie just shook his head in disagreement, pulling Buck into his arms. Buck nuzzled his head into the crook of Eddie’s neck sobbing. 

“Buck, you didn’t lose him! At that moment he was not your responsibility, but the teachers. They should have been keeping an eye on him while we were gone. And you found him, okay? You found him and he was okay! Just a little scared is all. I- I should have realized this trip was going to be a bad idea. I didn’t think about him being surrounded by water.” 

“I-I didn’t think about it either. I just know he was so excited about going on the field trip.” Buck said, hiccuping. He brought up a hand to wipe his cheeks, Eddie beating him to it. 

“He was really excited, I think he enjoyed it though more or less.” Eddie turned back to look at Christopher causing Buck’s attention to shift to the boy as well. Christopher was talking with one of the aquarium workers, the man pointing to the penguins as they floated around in the small enclosure. Eddie turned back to him, giving him a small smile. “What do you say we go ahead and get out of here? You can come back to our house and we’ll watch a movie and you can cuddle Christopher on the couch? I remember how much you two needed that after the tsunami.”

Buck thought it over, realizing that a Buckley/Diaz movie night is exactly what they needed. After the day he’d experienced, he wanted nothing more than to curl up on the couch with his two favorite boys and make sure Christopher never left his sight. He flashed Eddie a small smile, eyes falling back to Christopher. “I’d love nothing more.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG this ANGSTTTT! Honestly, this chapter kind of hurt me to write and it took me weeks to get it done! I really hope this chapter meets y'all's expectations. The next chapter should be out soon, and so far it's one of my favorites! This story is getting so close to the end and should be done in like three chapters. 
> 
> As always, I love reading your comments and feedback! 
> 
> You can also reach me at my tumblr [asteroidbill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/asteroidbill)  
>  at any time, and I'd love any requests y'all may have!


	8. Part Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thanks to [Zel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpaperheartso) for betaing this chapter!

Buck’s fingers fumbled over the keys of the controller, eyes focused on the station house TV. Currently, he and Hen were playing their turn on the gaming console and it seemed they were just about to forfeit their turn. Chimney and Eddie were sitting in the other armchairs, cheering them on and calling out pointers. By some grace of God, they were able to last until the end of the round, celebrating with a quick high-five before hurrying out of the hole they were in. 

“See, I told you guys to play with the hellhounds,” Chimney said, watching as both players ran low with ammunition. Buck cursed out loud as the game automatically switched to his second gun, his primary running out of ammo. Chimney shot him a smirk, trying and failing to hold back laughter. “Bet you wish you had one of those max ammos right about now, huh?” 

Buck scowled, flipping him the middle finger before concentrating on the screen. Finally, through the herd of zombies, he saw the green beacon of redemption, the exact max ammo that they desperately needed. He hollered for Hen to watch his back, fingers flying across the controller buttons to expertly move his character through the herd. 

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Buck hollered, fist-pumping the air as their ammunition bars topped off. The next few rounds were a breeze for the two to play through. Finally, they could ease back without the tensions on the game being too hard. 

“Hey, so how’s it been going with your girlfriend? Claire, right?” Hen asked at the beginning of a new round. Buck smiled at the mention of Claire, happy that all his friends seemed to like her. 

“It’s been pretty damn good! We’ve been hanging out a lot the past few weeks. I think I really like her.” Buck smiled over at Hen, leaning over to bump her with his shoulder. She scoffed and bumped him back. 

“Yeah?” Hen said, turning to look at him. Eddie made some noise of complaint, causing Buck to throw him a confused look. Eddie just waved him off, but Buck raised his eyebrows at him. Knowing that Buck wouldn’t back off until he had an answer, Eddie mouthed a  _ Later! _ at him. Beside him, Hen jumped, “Hey, on your right! I’m reloading! Anyway, you should bring your girl to Bobby and Athena’s cookout this weekend. I’d really like to meet her and I know Karen would too!” 

“Yeah, yeah. Bobby already told me to invite her. Said he and Athena wanted to meet her.” Buck fumbled with the controller, almost dropping it to the floor as he got stuck in another corner. He did his best to keep control of the herd as Hen’s character raced to get the next drop. “Anyway, I’m sure you guys will like her. I wasn’t sure that night in the bar but she’s honestly becoming like my best friend.” 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Eddie interrupted, tossing a throw pillow in Buck’s direction. Buck did his best to dodge it, but it still landed firmly in his face and blocked his view of the TV screen. He sent a scowl to Eddie and threw it back, huffing as Eddie caught it. “What the hell, man! I thought I was your best friend!” 

“Dude! You are, but this is different! That’s not how I meant it, man, and you know it!” Buck would have thrown him a bewildered look, but his attention was solely on the game he was about to lose. He and Hen had made it pretty far, but it seemed like their luck was about to end. 

“Yeah, Eddie.” Chimney busted in, a smirk firmly on his face. “You may be his best friend, but it’s a different type of friendship than what he shares with Claire. I mean it’s not like he’s fucking you.” 

Buck and Eddie both sputtered, turning to look at Chimney. Buck stared at him, dumbfounded, as Hen hit him in the shoulder, trying to get his attention back on the game. Chim had said plenty of outlandish things in the years Buck had known him, but never had it been anything like this. A blush overtook Buck’s cheeks, as the picture of him fucking Eddie filled his mind. 

“Fuck you, Chimney! We were doing so great and then you had to distract him!” Buck shook himself from his thoughts, knowing that the fire station was no place to be having inappropriate thoughts about Eddie. No matter how taunting and delicious those thoughts may be. 

He looked back at the screen, realizing that as he got stuck in his distracting thoughts, he had died and Hen had been unable to keep the game going by herself. They had gotten to the furthest round that they had ever gotten to as a team, almost breaking Chimney’s record. 

“You guys better get your asses over here if you want any of this food!” Buck turned, eyes falling on Bobby and a table full of food. Everyone heeded the man’s words and quickly jumped to their feet, Buck tossing his controller onto the coffee table. Everyone took their seats around the table and thanked Bobby for fixing the meal.

“Hey, Eddie?” Buck asked, looking at the man sitting across from him as he passed a bowl to Chimney. Eddie’s eyes flicked up from where he was piling macaroni on to his plate, eyebrow raised. “Since we haven’t really been hanging around that much, did you and Chris wanna come over for a movie night?” 

“I- uh.” Eddie stuttered, eyes fluttering to look back down at his plate as he passed the bowl on. He sucked his thumb into his mouth, Buck’s eyes tracking the movement. His pupils dilated a fraction in heat, and he squirmed in his chair as his cock took interest. Eddie’s eyes flicked back up and Buck quickly met them, trying to act as though he wasn’t just staring at his mouth. “Christopher is spending the night at Abuela’s tonight.”

“Okay. That just means we can choose a movie  _ we  _ actually want to watch.” Buck returned easily, turning his head as he passed the last bowl of food to Chimney. He picked up his fork and started shoveling the food in his mouth. Realizing Eddie hadn’t answered him, he glanced up at the man from under his lashes. Eddie had a conflicted look on his face, his own fork clenched tightly in his hand. “The two of us can still hang out tonight though right?” 

“Actually, I uh- I can’t tonight,” Eddie answered, not providing a reason as to why exactly he couldn’t. He avoided meeting Buck’s eyes, keeping his own firmly on the food in front of him. 

“What do you mean you can’t? You already got plans tonight?” Buck asked, chuckling. He noticed that his best friend was avoiding making eye contact with him and to be truthful he was a little hurt. 

_You can’t blame him though. You haven’t really been spending a lot of time with him these past few weeks. You’ve only spent time with him outside of work a few times since the aquarium trip. You’ve been spending more time with Claire than you have with him_ , his subconscious reminded him. 

Buck rolled his eyes at his inner thoughts, flashing a smile when Eddie finally made eye contact with him. “Actually, I do. I have a date tonight. That’s why Abuela is keeping Christopher overnight for me.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Hen cut into their conversation, waving her fork at Eddie. Buck glanced around and noticed both Chimney and Bobby were also looking at Eddie in shock. Buck could understand the look, knowing for a fact that Eddie hadn’t been on a date since before Shannon. As far as Buck knew, Eddie didn’t  _ want  _ to date. “What do you mean you have a date? Who’s the girl? When did you meet her?” 

“I- uh- met them on a dating app,” Eddie said, picking up his glass and taking a sip. Buck’s eyes narrowed at the use of the word  _ them _ because Eddie was being very vague and suspicious. 

“Okay, and what’s her name?” Chimney asked, repeating Hen’s question. Everyone continued staring at Eddie as he just kept his gaze firmly locked on his plate. Buck’s eyes fell to his jaw as he watched it twitch, his throat bobbing as he swallowed thickly. Eddie finally glanced up and looked at everyone, before his gaze landed on Buck. He cleared his throat. 

“Actually,  _ his _ name is Carter.” 

Buck’s eyes widened in shock.  _ Eddie is going on a date with a man. EDDIE IS GOING ON A DATE WITH A MAN _ , Buck’s mind screamed at him. He wasn’t the only one in shock, everyone else frozen at the declaration. Suddenly, they practically sprang up out of their seats, talking animatedly over each other. 

“I am soooo sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate tha-”

“Damn! Get it, Diaz!”

“Since when have you been into guys?”

Everyone was silent once again, except they were all staring at Buck this time. Buck didn’t pay any attention to them, his eyes solely focused on Eddie. Eddie sent him a hurt look, and Buck widened his eyes. 

“Buck,” Eddie started, the hurt clear in his eyes. “I told you about my ex-boyfriend Parker from high school? I didn’t think you would have a problem with it.” 

“What? I thought Parker was a girl?” Everyone sent Buck glares, and he was quick to throw his hands up. “What? It can be a girl's name? And of course, I don’t have a problem with it, Eddie! I was just shocked! You never explicitly told me.”

“Yeah, Eddie? Why didn’t you tell us?” Hen asked, reaching over to nudge him with her elbow. Eddie blushed, glancing down at his plate again. 

“I didn’t really feel like I needed to tell you guys. I mean, I wasn’t really hiding it but I was still married to Shannon at the time so it never really came out. Besides, I thought you guys knew.”

“I guess we didn’t really pick up the hints, huh,” Chimney said, shooting a side glance at Buck. Eddie didn’t seem to catch it but Buck did, his eyes squinting in confusion. 

Slowly, the conversation switched to a different topic which Buck hardly participated in. His mind was still stuck on the fact that  _ Eddie was into guys _ . Never in a million years did he think Eddie was also into guys. Suddenly, his mind offered up the idea that he finally had some semblance of a chance with Eddie. However, he quickly dismissed the idea from his mind. 

_ Just because Eddie is into guys doesn’t mean he would be into me. Besides, I won’t chance ruining our friendship by telling him I am in love with him.  _

Eddie was, of course, the one to notice he wasn't participating in the table’s conversation and kicked at his foot under the table. Buck jerked as Eddie’s foot connected with the sensitive part of his leg, wincing as pain shot up his leg. He glanced up at Eddie through his lashes. 

_ Everything okay? _ Eddie mouthed to him, concern etched on his face. Buck nodded, casting a small smile in his direction. While he was glad to know his best friend had his back, this really wasn’t the time he wanted Eddie to pay attention to him. It was obvious that Eddie didn’t believe him and wanted to say something else. Thankfully, Buck was saved from Eddie’s questioning glance by the sound of the emergency alarm going off. 

Quickly, everyone jumped up from the dining table and stuffed one last bite of food into their mouths before rushing down the stairs of the loft. Buck was the first down the stairs and the first to climb into the ladder truck. Eddie was close behind him, nudging him with his shoulder as he buckled into the seat beside him. 

The rest of Buck’s shift seemed to pass by in a blur or emergencies, one call coming in after the next. Luckily, each seemed to be some simple emergency or another, ones in which no one was seriously injured. Before he knew it, Buck was walking up to the front door of his apartment. 

For the first time in weeks, he had no plans with anyone else. It had been a while since he’d come home alone, usually having Eddie in tow or heading to spend the night at Eddie’s house. In recent weeks, whenever he didn’t have plans with Eddie, he had plans to hang out with Claire. He was almost as inseparable from her as he was with Eddie, constantly texting her when they weren’t able to hang out. 

Buck was kind of excited to have zero plans for the night, ready to spend some time focusing on himself. Especially with the help of a little toy he’d bought a few weeks prior when Claire had dragged him into the sex shop. He’d been a little embarrassed at first until she told him that she hadn’t been as comfortable going in with her other friends that he buried his own embarrassment. He’d never been uncomfortable with sex before, and he was glad that Claire felt comfortable enough around him to drag him into shopping with her. 

It wasn’t until she had shoved a medium-sized dildo he had been eying into his arms, that he realized they weren't just shopping for her. Somehow, before Buck knew it, he was handing over a smaller, inexpensive, flesh-colored dildo and vial of flavored lube to the employee manning the front register, a hot red blush overtaking his pale cheeks. 

That was how he’d found himself later that night, naked and kneeling on his bed. He had warmed up the lube that coated his fingers, which rubbed slowly over his furrowed asshole. He waited until his hole relaxed slightly before he started pressing a finger into himself. The tip of his index finger had just popped past the ring of muscle at his entrance when he heard his front door open and someone called out to him. 

“Hey, Buck! You home?” Eddie hollered into the apartment, the sound of the door being closed behind him following soon after. Buck froze, ass still clenched around the tip of his index finger. It wasn’t until he heard Eddie’s foot step onto the first stair leading up to the loft, that he sprang into action. 

Buck scrambled to gather up the bottle of lube and the small dildo that sat out in plain sight on his bedspread, tossing both items into his nightstand. He had just gotten a pair of grey sweatpants pulled up over his bare ass when Eddie’s head popped into his room. 

“There you are! I was wondering if maybe you had gone out with Claire after -” Eddie paused, eyes raking over Buck’s half-naked body. A flush worked its way up Buck’s chest, leaving his skin pink. He watched as Eddie gulped, throat bobbing. Finally, Eddie made eye contact with him. “Sorry, was I uh- was I interrupting something?”

“No, no.” Buck stuttered out, his heart still beating erratically in his chest. “I was just, ya know um- getting out of the shower.”

“But, your hair isn’t wet,” Eddie said, dryly. He cocked his eyebrow as he stared at Buck. Buck blinked at him, mind trying to come up with a response to Eddie’s astute observation.

“Wait a minute? Aren’t you supposed to be on a date right now?” Buck asked, sticking out a finger and pointing at Eddie. Eddie’s eyes widened and he let out a small laugh. 

“Buck, that was a lie!” He moved to sit down on the edge of Buck’s bed.  _ Holy shit! He’s sitting in the exact same spot where I just had my fingers up my ass.  _ Buck shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he narrowed his eyes at Eddie. 

“A lie?”

“What? You really thought I was going on some random Grindr date tonight?” Eddie asked, looking up at him from under his lashes. “Buck, dude. I would have told you if I was going on an actual date.”

“I thought you did,” Buck exclaimed, throwing his hands up in an overdramatic gesture. He moved from in front of his dresser and tossed himself on his bed, leaning up against his headboard. “Why’d you say you were going on a date if you weren’t?”

“Ever since you and Claire started fake dating or whatever, everyone backed off you, right?” Eddie paused and moved to scoot back beside him. Buck nodded his head, hands gesturing for him to continue. “Well, they started hounding me about going on dates. Like a few weeks back, before you got to the bar Maddie was trying to set me up on a date with her new coworker. So, I thought I would just mention the fact that I was going on a date in front of everyone and they’d back off.” 

“Oh,” Buck said, turning to look away from Eddie. Now that he thought about it, it was definitely a better alternative from the massive web of lies and deceit he’d spun to get them off his back. “So why’d you come over here? Not that I mind, but you could just be relaxing at home then. Sans date, and sans Christopher.” 

“Actually, I came to cash in my favor from a while back,” Eddie said softly, causing Buck to turn and stare at him. Eddie paused, eyes shifting away from Buck’s face. “You know the favor I wanted for helping you with the whole ‘keeping our friends off your back’ thing?” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Buck said, nodding his head. “Of course, I remember that. What did you need me to do? Hide a body? Rob a bank? Suck your dick?” 

Eddie sputtered out a laugh, looking at Buck in bewilderment at his last suggestion. To be truthful, Buck was surprised that suggestion had fallen from his mouth as well. He was glad Eddie didn’t seem to take it as seriously as he had meant it. “No, man. I uh- I actually need you to do the same thing for me. You know the whole-” 

He gestured to his neck, huffing out a breath as Buck just stared at him with squinted eyes. He continued, rolling his eyes. “I need you to mark me up like I did for you, dumbass.” 

“Oh,  _ oh _ ,” Buck said, eyes finally widening in understanding. Never in a million years did he think Eddie would be asking him to cover his body in love bites. Buck’s mouth practically watered at the thought of being able to get his mouth on Eddie’s skin. “Yeah, man, of course. Do you want me to get to it right now? Or?” 

“Oh, no,” Eddie stuttered, his own eyes widening as he watched Buck’s hand gesture towards the bed. “I mean we can if you don’t have time but I figured we could settle in for a while and have a few beers. Maybe watch that movie you were talking about earlier?” 

“Sure, Eds. I don’t have any other plans for the rest of the night.”  _ Of course, no other than putting my mark all over you and then fucking myself on a sex toy to the thought of it after you leave _ , Buck thought. “Lead the way.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes, mumbling about how this  _ wasn’t  _ his house, before jumping off the bed anyway. Buck followed closely behind him, unable to stop his eyes from watching Eddie’s ass as he walked down the stairs. Once they reached the bottom floor, Eddie moved towards the kitchen and opened up the fridge. Buck made his way over to the living room, dropping down on the couch as soon as the remote was grasped in his hands. 

“What kind of movie do you want to watch?” Buck asked, turning to watch Eddie walk in from the kitchen. He had two unopened beers in his hand, passing one bottle onto Buck as he settled in beside him on the couch. 

“I thought you already had one you wanted to watch?” Eddie asked, glancing over at Buck. He took a giant swallow of his beer, a drop of amber liquid sliding from the corner of his plush lips. Buck’s eyes followed the path of the liquid, having to physically restrain himself from chasing that drop with his tongue. 

“Nah, man. I was just saying we could finally watch something that wasn’t a damn Disney movie or a cartoon.” Buck took a sip of his own beer, before fiddling with the label. 

“Okay,” Eddie said, leaning against the back of the couch. His thigh was pressed up against Buck’s, a comfortable weight against his body. “Why don’t we just put on the first movie that looks interesting, huh?”

Buck hummed in agreement, launching his streaming provider and flipping through his recommended movies. Finally, he and Eddie settled on what promised to be a suspenseful thriller. Buck tossed the remote on to the coffee table and threw his arm across the back of the couch behind Eddie. 

The movie started out pretty interestingly, but Buck wasn’t paying much attention to it. His mind was stuck on the fact that he was soon going to have his mouth on Eddie, layering his tan skin with multiple bruises. Just the thought of tasting Eddie had his cock twitching, something he noticed was highly visible through his thin light-colored sweats.

His eyes widened as he noticed his hard-on was highly noticeable through his pants, something Eddie surely had to have noticed when he’d been in his room earlier. He could almost make out the defined ridge of his length through the material, cursing to himself as he watched it twitch again. 

Buck resigned himself to focusing on the movie instead of daydreaming about Eddie and what was to come later that night. He took a large gulp of his beer, attention switching to the movie playing in front of him. As he continued actually watching, he realized just how terrible it actually was. The plot was that of the typical suspenseful thrillers and the acting was horrendous. 

Buck downed the rest of his beer, sitting up to place the empty bottle on the coffee table. His focus went back to the movie, but his attention scattered as another character was murdered, the blood being obviously fake. Finally having enough with the awful movie, he turned his head to look at Eddie. It seemed he wasn’t the only one not enjoying the movie, Eddie sitting with his arms crossed as he stared blankly at the screen.

“This is truly fucking awful isn’t it?” Buck asked when Eddie turned to glance at him. He’d made a disgusted face as he asked him, and Eddie busted out laughing. 

“Fuck, it really is? Can we just go ahead and turn it off now? I mean it’s fucking obvious that her uncle is the murder. He’s so damn creepy.” Eddie said as he caught his breath. 

“What the hell are you talking about? It is so obviously the next-door neighbor’s son.” Buck exclaimed, throwing his hands up. Eddie gave him an affronted and disbelieving look, causing him to continue on. “The kid has been in love with her since she was eleven! Like obsessively so! That makes him murder suspect number one for killing her boyfriend.”

“No! It was most definitely the girl’s uncle.” Eddie wagged his finger in Buck’s face, making him scowl as he batted it away with the back of his hand. “The guy had been molesting her since she was like nine! Of course, he’s gonna get rid of the one person who she might tell!”

“If it was her uncle then explain that!” Buck pointed to the TV screen where the uncle’s brutal murder played across the screen. Buck watched as Eddie’s mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. 

“Okay, you were right. It was definitely the next-door neighbor’s kid.” Eddie admitted, turning back to look at Buck in disbelief. Buck just smirked at him, triumphant that he was right in his predictions. 

“So speaking of molestation?” Eddie shot him a look of confusion, eyebrows raising. “Shouldn’t I be going all vampire on your neck by now?” 

Eddie rolled his eyes but sat up and placed his beer on the table in front of them. He grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head, stripping out of the material. “I guess so, wanna get to it then, Dracula?” 

Buck sighed and rolled his eyes, pushing against Eddie’s shoulder. The man fell back to lay against the expanse of the couch. Buck leaned over Eddie a hesitant smile spread across his face. Eddie gave him a quizzical look and leaned up on his elbows, causing Buck to back up a little. 

“This isn’t going to be weird for you, is it? Knowing that I’m bisexual?” Eddie asked concern etched on his face. Buck shook his head, eyebrow raised. To be truthful, he’d forgotten about Eddie’s earlier admission. Okay, that was a lie but it wasn’t the primary thought in his mind at that moment. 

“Of course not, Eddie. Why would I have a problem with it?” Buck asked. Sure, Eddie didn’t know that Buck was also bisexual, but he didn’t think he would come across as someone who would have a problem with it. 

“You know I really did think you knew. That I was bi.” Eddie said, biting his lip. “I guess I should have just flat out told you because god knows you are shit at picking up hints.” There was a smirk on his perfect lips, and Buck rolled his eyes in favor of staring at them hungrily. “I just didn’t want you to be uncomfortable with the fact that I might get a little... excited by what’s about to happen. It really has just been a long time since I’ve been with anyone, especially a man, and my body is going to react to any type of stimulation.” 

Buck’s heart thumped faster at the implication that Eddie might get hard just from his mouth being on him. The thought was quickly stamped down as he realized what Eddie said. “Eddie, I was a man whore for  _ years _ . I’ve probably done things that would make you squirm. Trust me when I say, you getting a hard-on at some long-awaited stimulation is not going to put me off.” 

“I highly doubt that, Buck.” Eddie rolled his eyes at him. Buck wasn’t one hundred percent sure what Eddie was talking about, but he knew for a fact that he would not be put out if Eddie happened to pop a boner. The only problem Buck would have is keeping his hands to himself and refraining from climbing the man like a tree. 

Buck replied to the eye roll with one of his own, placing his hand against Eddie’s chest and shoving the man flat against the couch. He watched as Eddie’s eyes darkened and he swallowed. “Why don’t you just shut up? The sooner this is over with, the sooner you can go rub one out since you seem to think you’ll get all worked up.”

Without waiting for Eddie to reply, Buck dropped his head into the crook of Eddie’s neck. He braced himself with and hand on the arm of the couch above Eddie’s head, and finally,  _ finally _ , got his mouth on Eddie’s skin. 

Buck had to hold back a low groan as his tongue finally tasted the salty skin of Eddie’s neck. He licked a path up the side of his neck, before nipping at his jaw. Buck felt Eddie release a shaky breath, smirking into his skin as he experienced the effect his mouth had on Eddie. Taking his time, he started placing open-mouthed kisses along the column of Eddie’s neck. 

When he bit down on the soft skin between his neck and shoulder, Eddie let out a small whimper and brought his hand up to grasp at the back of Buck’s head. The sound washed over Buck, shivers running down his spine as his cock twitched in his pants. He felt a bead of pre-cum leak from his tip, sticking to the soft material of his pants. 

“How far did you need me to go?” Buck asked, suddenly pulling back to look at Eddie. He watched as Eddie slowly blinked open his eyes, pleasure swirling in his irises. 

“Huh?” Eddie asked, blinking up at Buck. His breathing was labored, and Buck could see this flush overtaking his tanned skin. Buck continued looking down at him, eyebrow raised in amusement. 

“I asked how far you needed me to take this?” Buck asked again, a smirk finding its way onto his face. “The team already knew I had a thing for being marked up, but they don’t know that about you. I could just leave a few small ones on your neck and that could be proof enough. It’s all up to you man.” 

“I - I,” Eddie stuttered, eyes glazed over and searching Buck’s face. “Just do whatever seems like enough. I’ll tell you when to stop, okay?”

Buck nodded and Eddie arched his neck, exposing more or his neck. This hand on the back of Buck’s head pushed against him, urging his forward. Buck laughed against the skin of Eddie’s neck, before playfully nipping him with his teeth. Eddie squirmed and pinched his side in retaliation. 

Buck traced a small path down Eddie’s throat with open-mouthed kisses until he reached his collarbone. He nipped tiny bites across the ridge of bone, feeling more than hearing the rumble of Eddie’s groan low in his throat. His tongue swirled over the bites, soothing them. 

Buck moved up, licking into the hollow of his throat, swirling his tongue around his Adam’s apple. He closed his mouth over the bulge, sucking tightly on the skin. He felt the vibrations as Eddie moaned, egging him on to suck harder. As he released the skin, he pulled back and blew cool air on to the wet skin. Eddie’s hand tightened in his hair, Buck’s eyes falling shut in pleasure. 

“Fuck,  _ fuck _ ,” Eddie said, voice harsh and heady. He pulled Buck’s mouth back from his throat with the hand on his neck. Eddie looked wrecked as Buck stared down at him, his head thrown back and his eyes squeezed shut. Tiny deep purple bruises layered the left side of his throat, the look of them marring Eddie’s skin causing Buck’s cock to pulsate. 

Buck continued looking at him, as Eddie sat in silence. He worked on evening out his breath, before the silence finally got to be too much. “Eddie, is everything okay?” 

“Y-yeah,” Eddie answered, opening his eyes and moving to sit up on his elbows. Buck leaned back, moving to sit back on the couch cushion. His eyes tracked as Eddie adjusted himself in his pants, mind reeling on the fact that he’d gotten Eddie  _ hard _ . “I think that should be enough. Thanks for your help, man.” 

“Of course, Eddie. Anytime.” Buck watched as Eddie sat up, and picked his shirt up from the floor and pulled it back over his head. Eddie stood up and glanced at him. 

“It’s probably getting a little late, I’m gonna go ahead and head home. Thanks again.” Eddie’s response was short, and before Buck could even respond, he was out the door. Buck felt a little left behind, but then he remembered. He had gotten Eddie  _ hard _ . He did  _ that _ . 

Realizing that Eddie was gone, he hopped off the couch and rushed up the stairs to his loft, two at a time. He’d been interrupted earlier and now he had an even more pressing problem. 

It took no time for Buck to get back to the position he was in before Eddie had interrupted him, kneeling on the edge of the bed. His hole was once again stretched around his thick pointer finger, deeper this time. It wasn’t painful, but it was definitely a slightly uncomfortable feeling. He pressed in further, bending his finger in a  _ come hither!  _ motion inside himself. His hole tightened in response around his finger. 

He slowly pulled the finger out, and then just as slowly pushed it back in. He did it a few times, getting used to the feeling of something moving in and out of him. After a few moments, he pulled his finger all the way out and then lined up a second finger as he pushed back in. He groaned at the fuller feeling, though it definitely was not enough. He set a faster rhythm of in and out, in and out. 

Before long, his ass was stretched around three of his thick fingers, as he rode them. It felt good, better than he ever thought it would, but he still hadn’t reached his prostate. His fingers, while very thick, were far too short. Suddenly, his eyes fell on the thin dildo he’d pulled out of his nightstand with the lube. 

He hurriedly removed his fingers with a wet  _ pop _ and grabbed the toy laying on his bedsheets. It was a medium length, flesh-colored dildo. Supposedly great for beginners as it wasn’t too long or too thick. Buck held the toy in his hand, inspecting it. He was still unsure whether or not he really wanted to use it, before ultimately deciding to say  _ fuck it _ . 

He applied a generous amount of lube to the toy, before he finally,  _ finally _ , began working the toy into himself. The head of the fake cock pressed eagerly against his rim before the muscle finally gave way and the toy pushed inside him. Buck released a long slow breath as he stopped pressing the toy in. He’d gotten just passed the head, the size of it slightly overwhelming. 

After he got used to it, he bared down until he took the rest of the length. Its presence inside him made him feel full, reaching parts of him his fingers had been unable to reach. Slowly, he slid the toy back out and pushed it back in just as carefully. He adjusted to the slow-paced rhythm, increasing the speed ever so slightly. 

“Fuck,  _ fuck!  _ Right there!” Pleasure zinged up his spine as the toy brushed over something inside him. Buck keened as he rolled his hips and it hit the same spot.  _ So  _ this _ is the prostate _ , he thought as he continued rolling down on the toy inside him. 

His blood rushed through his body, racing down to his aching cock. His vision whited out, as the toy pressed firmly over the bundle of nerves. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he released, all sound and time stopping. 

Finally, he caught his breath, hips coming to a stop with the toy still inside him. Sweat rolled down his body, thigh muscles fluttering as he removed the toy from his ass and tossed it on his ruined sheets. He stood on shaky legs, needing a wet towel. He was mad at himself for not thinking to put down a towel before he’d gotten started. His extra sheets were downstairs in the laundry basket, still dirty from the last time he’d changed them. 

He walked over to his dresser and grabbed a clean pair of boxers, slipping into them slowly. His body was still weak from pleasure when he turned to walk down the stairs. He froze as he faced the opening to the loft, his eyes going wide. 

“How- how long have you been standing there?” 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you all liked this chapter! Rereading it, I honestly busted the fuck out at some of the places! I have spring break this next week, and I plan to finish this up! Should only be twoish chapters left! 
> 
> The next chapter is the one you've all been waiting for!!!!
> 
> As always, I'll take any requests over on my tumblr, [asteroidbill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/asteroidbill)! Especially now that this one is done! 
> 
> And as well, I enjoy reading all of your comments! If you all have any suggestions for the next chapter (smexy stuff wise) I will try my best to fit it in!


	9. Part Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! THE ENDDDDD! 
> 
> As always I want to thank [Zel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpaperheartso) for betaing this whole story! Without you, this would not have been what it was! 
> 
> Other special thanks goes out to everyone on the buddie discord! To everyone who helped motivated me to write and sprinted with me throughout this story! 
> 
> And last but not least to diazeven for your comment on the last part, you made me rethink this whole chapter! 
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of Buckley family being assholes- ie; child abuse and use of homophobic language

_ “How- How long have you been standing there?” _

Buck’s question was met with a bout of laughter. He huffed out a breath as his cheeks colored red in embarrassment. “Maddie! I’m not kidding. What are you even doing here?” 

Buck glared as his sister just started laughing harder, bending at the waist and clutching her stomach. He folded his arms across his chest in defense as she continued laughing. Finally, she managed to control herself and answer him. 

“I’ve only been standing  _ here  _ for a minute,” Maddie replied, a smirk on her face as she looked over his flushed body. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that his sister hadn’t caught him. She stared at him silently for a moment and he turned around to grab a pair of sweatpants. “But I have been waiting downstairs for a while. Figured, I’d let you finish what you were doing up here.” 

Buck let out a groan and threw his head back as she started giggling again.  _ I really need to get my spare keys back. Why don’t people call before they drop by? _ He turned back around and glared at his sister until she collected herself again. 

“Chimney told me about Eddie going on a date tonight. Figured you would be upset, so I thought I would come and keep you company.” Maddie explained, leaning her body against the doorway. Buck raised his eyebrows, his mouth parting as he tilted his head. 

“Why would I be upset?” 

Maddie smirked and pointed over to his bed, ignoring his question and changing the subject. Buck turned and looked at the state of his bed. His sheets were rumpled and his eyes widened as they fell on the toy he’d carelessly tossed onto them. “Is that really a beginners dildo, Evan? I thought we Buckleys were more hardcore than that?” 

Buck’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, his mouth falling open for a beat. Maddie met his shocked expression with a knowing one of her own, and his eyebrows furrowed as glared at his sister, before finally marching over to his bed. He picked up the dildo and lube, moving to shove them both into the nightstand. Maddie sputtered out a laugh as he shouldered past her and headed down the stairs. 

“Oh, come on Evan.” Maddie followed him into the kitchen, where he pulled out a couple of beers. He handed one to his sister before he swallowed half of his own in one gulp. “ You know this is payback from you trying to get into the shower with me.”

“Th-that was two years ago.” Buck stuttered, before pointing an accusing finger at her. “Besides, you broke into  _ my  _ apartment. I thought you were Abby!” 

Maddie just rolled her eyes, moving to sit on one of the barstools under the island counter. Buck downed the rest of his beer, turning to grab another one out of the fridge. “I’ve already apologized for that and you know it. Anyway, are you doing okay? With Eddie going on a date with someone tonight? Another guy?” 

“Why- why does everyone think I have a problem with that? Do I look like a fucking homophobe or something?” Buck glared at his sister, as he slapped his hand down on the table. “How could you guys think that anyway? I don’t treat Hen and Karen any differently! Do I?” 

“I’m not saying you are, Evan.” Maddie reached across the counter and placed her hand on top of his. “You treat them like you treat everyone. You treat them like they are human. But Evan, I grew up with Dad too. I know how he was and the views he tried to put on us.”

“Maddie,” Buck whined lowly, his hand clenching under hers. “I am nothing like our father. You of all people should know that.” 

“I know, Evan. I know.” Maddie gave him a look, one he hadn’t seen in a long time. It was like she could see right through him and all his darkest secrets were laid bare. His eyes fell to the countertop and he heard her take a deep breath. “You were six years old when you said you were going to marry your best friend, Jedd, when you got older. Dad smacked you right there in the front hallway. Told you he wouldn’t have a - ” Maddie winced. “- a  _ faggot _ for a son.” 

Buck's eyes snapped up to meet her worried gaze, wide-eyed. “I- I don’t remember that happening.” 

For a moment Buck swore he could see his sister’s eyes getting misty.

“When you were twelve, you told me that you wanted to kiss another boy in your class. Dad overheard. He gave you a black eye and locked you in your room for two days. I know you remember that. You never talked about boys again. Friend or otherwise.” Maddie’s hand squeezed his. He hadn’t thought about those days in so long that he’d nearly forgotten they had even happened. 

“I-I forgot about all of that.” Buck looked back at the countertop, biting his lower lip. He slipped his hand out from under Maddie’s grasp and folded his arms across his bare chest. His eyes flicked back to look at his sister from under his eyelashes. “So you k-know, huh?”

“That you’re bisexual?” Maddie asked, her eyebrow raised. A soft smile stretched across her face as she watched her brother release a deep breath. “Evan, I practically raised you. I’ve known for years, since the first time we watched the  _ Romeo and Juliet  _ movie with Leonardo Decaprio. You talked about him for weeks afterward, quoted the movie all the time.” 

“What? A young Leo was fucking attractive, okay?” Buck joked, smiling at his sister. He walked around the island counter and pulled out the other bar stool. He sat down and rested his head on Maddie’s shoulder, eyes closing on their own accord as he leaned against his sister, her hand reaching out to squeeze his knee. 

“I know how you feel about Eddie, too.” 

Buck’s eyes sprung open and he lifted his head to look at his sister, nearly headbutting her chin in the process. His heart practically galloped as he tried to think of an excuse. How easy it would be to say he just loved him like a brother.  _ Or I could just tell her how I feel about him. For real. I could tell her that-  _ “I’m in love with him. I’m in love with Eddie Diaz.”

Maddie smiled at him proudly. His heart thundered in his chest at his confession as a smile worked its way onto his face. Finally, he had told someone close to him. His sister. And she hadn’t frowned at him or called him a disgrace. She seemed to understand and support him, and suddenly an invisible weight he’d never realized he’d been carrying was significantly lighter. 

“Does Claire know? That you’re in love with someone else?”

“Claire is,” Buck paused, thinking about how great of a friend she had become. She was there for him, just as much as he was there for her. He was comfortable in her presence, able to relax and be himself. His whole self, bisexual and all. “Claire isn’t- she’s not  _ really  _ my girlfriend. We were faking it. The whole thing was just to get you guys off my back about getting back into the dating scene.”

A look of realization crossed Maddie’s face as she reached over to grab her beer off the counter. Buck’s eyes followed a bead of sweat as it dripped off the bottle and fell onto the floor.

“Okay so the relationship was fake,” Buck’s eyes snapped back to Maddie. She looked confused, her eyes zeroing in on his neck critically. “But those bruises surely were not. Are you guys just like fuck buddies or something?” 

Laughter bubbled up out of Buck’s chest. Of all the conclusions he thought Maddie would jump to, he shouldn’t be surprised it was that one. “No, no. That is not what is going on. She’s almost like a second sister to me. It wasn’t her who gave me the hickies.” 

“If it wasn’t Claire, then who’s been biting the shit out of you?”

Buck contemplated what he was going to tell her, not wanting to lie but also not wanting to tell her the truth.  _ You already told her more than you planned to, and it’s not like she won’t figure out who it was. You should just tell her it was-  _ “Eddie.” 

There was a beat of silence. And then. “Eddie? Eddie, as in your best friend, Eddie?” 

Buck watched as his sister’s eyes widened in shock. He held back another bout of laughter as she stared at him.“Yeah, Eddie” 

“How did Eddie even get involved in this?” 

“He- he,” Buck stuttered, a blush slowly creeping up his torso. He bit his lower lip, hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. He continued, sheepishly.“ I um- asked him to.” 

“You asked Eddie, your best friend, the guy you are  _ in love with _ , to give you hickies.” It wasn’t a question. More of a statement, than anything else. Maddie stared at Buck, her mouth parted. She was dumbfounded. Flabbergasted even. “And he  _ agreed _ ?” 

“I- I mean yeah, he agreed to do it. Said that’s what best friends were for.” Buck cocked his head as his sister started laughing, eyebrows shooting into his hair. She continued laughing, hunched over herself. Finally, Buck grumbled and pushed at her shoulder. “What’s so funny?” 

“That’s what best friends are for? The man had his mouth all over your neck! And if what Chim says is true, he has bitten marks all the way down your abs as well. And you don’t think that he might have feelings for you too?” 

The flush that started out on his chest, started working it’s way to his cheeks. He scratched at a spot above his eyebrow, as his eyes fell to the ground. “I’m just saying that’s what he said. And besides, Eddie is strai-,” Buck paused, and bit his lip. “Okay, so he’s not straight, I guess? But just because he likes guys doesn't mean that he has feelings for me.”

“You never did answer my question earlier.” Maddie interrupted, ignoring his previous comment. Buck glanced up at her, his eyes narrowing into a glare. “How do you feel about Eddie going on a date with another guy tonight?”

Buck paused. It wasn’t really his place to say anything, not really.  _ You know she won’t stop asking. And you already told her everything else _ , he rationalized. Clearing his throat, he continued. “He uh- didn’t.”

“What, the guy didn’t show?” Maddie looked furious at the prospect. While he was glad that she’d be upset over her friend getting stood up, he was a little afraid of her reaction to what actually happened. 

“There was never any date to begin with?” Buck’s mumbled, his voice going higher as he tried to avoid her eye contact. 

“What?” Maddie raised her eyebrows at him. 

“There was never really any date to begin with.”

“But Chimney said-”

“Eddie lied.” Buck said, interrupting Maddie. She had a confused look on her face. 

“Lied?”

“Yeah, he lied about going on a date. Said you guys were bugging him about going out with someone since I had gotten a girlfriend. He came over and asked me to return the favor. Said you tried to set him up with a new coworker or something a few weeks ago when we were all at the bar. He wanted an excuse to get you off his back and I owed him one.”

“Buck,”Maddie’s face lit up, causing Buck to raise his eyebrow in suspicion.“I don’t have a new coworker and I never tried to set Eddie up with anyone.” 

“Then why would he say that? Why would he ask me to suck bruises all over him?” 

“ _ Evan _ .” She said his name in a way she used to all lot when he was growing up. Like he was missing something or he did something incredibly stupid. He got that look  _ a lot _ growing up. Suddenly, he clued in to what she was insinuating. 

“You don’t think?” Buck paused, swallowing thickly. “There’s no way.”

_ There was no way it was true. No fucking way. _

__ “Only one way to find out.” The words were barely out of his mouth before he hopped up from his seat. He headed towards his front door, barely pausing to fish his keys out of the bowl on the counter. 

The door slammed shut, effectively closing off the sound of Maddie hollering after him. He took the stairs outside of his apartment two at a time, hitting the button on his key fob to automatically start his car. He didn’t use the function often, but he was in a hurry. 

After he got in his jeep, he backed out of his parking spot and floored it down the street. Luckily, the roads were relatively empty, most traffic going towards downtown. The trip passed by in a blur and before he knew it, he was standing in front of Eddie’s door. His fist pounded hard on the door, mirroring the fast beat of his heart in his chest. 

Suddenly the door flew open, revealing a very rumpled, angry-looking Eddie. The anger, however, faded into confusion as Eddie realized who was at the door. 

“Buck?” Eddie’s eyes traced over Buck’s body, widening in concern. “Buck, is everything okay? It’s almost midnight and you’re not wearing a shirt. Or shoes for that matter? What’s going on?”

Buck continued to stare at the man in front of him, his breath coming in shallow pants as his heart beats wildly in his chest. Eddie moves to pull him into the house, and Buck lets him, standing in the hallway as Eddie closes and locks the door behind them. 

“Why don’t I get you a shirt and some socks, or something? It’s pretty cold out there toni- umph.” Buck crowded into Eddie’s space as he turned back from the door, his mouth covering the older man’s. 

Buck’s hands pressed against Eddie’s cheeks, thumb stroking the underside of his jaw. His lips parted as he caught Eddie’s lower lip between his, sucking it into his own mouth. As a startled groan forces its way up Eddie’s throat, Buck stumbles back away from him. 

“Wh-” Eddie started, eyes almost as wide as Buck’s.  _ I cannot  _ believe _ I just fucking did that.  _

“B-Buck, why did y-”

“I’m bisexual.” 

_ Why the fuck did I just say that? What the fuck? _

Eddie stared at him blankly for a moment, before a slow smile stretched across his face. His arms came to cross over his chest as Buck stood frozen. Finally, he opened his mouth. “Hi, bisexual. I’m Eddie.” 

Buck’s mouth fell open as Eddie began cracking up. He chortled a few moments later.  _ This, This is the idiot I am in love with.  _

“Wait,” Eddie stopped short, his eyes once again wide as he stared at Buck. “You’re in love with me?” 

He forgot how to breathe. His heart pounded in his chest, and he was struggling to breathe.  _ I said that out loud?  _

“You definitely said that out loud.”  _ Fuck, fuck, fuck! _ Suddenly, Eddie was crowding into his space, pinning him against the wall. Buck had a split second to see the smile that crossed Eddie’s face, before his lips descended onto his. 

Buck gasped, his mouth parting open. Eddie took the opportunity to suck his bottom lip into his mouth, mirroring how Buck kissed him the first time. A moan worked its way between Buck’s lips and Eddie started to pull back. Buck tried to follow his lips, a whine falling from his mouth as Eddie chuckled. He rested his forehead against Buck’s, his eyes closing. “Say it again.” 

A beat passed, and Buck opened his eyes. He reached up with his hand, cupping Eddie’s jaw. Thumb stroking the rough stubble. And then. “I love you.” 

He watched as Eddie breathed out, his lips parting into a smile. He leaned back, watching Buck as his hands came to cup the man’s cheek. He leaned forward, peppering Buck’s face with tiny kisses. “I love you. I love you.  _ I love you _ !”

Buck captured his lips in another kiss, his heart thudding against his chest. A moan pressed against his mouth as Eddie pressed him into the wall, his body a hard line against him. Buck broke away, running his nose along Eddie’s jawline, lips skating over his stubble. 

_ Fuck, I never thought a beard would be so hot _ , Buck moaned as Eddie tilted his head back towards his mouth. His tongue licked into his mouth and Buck was finally,  _ finally _ , able to taste him from the source. No longer would he be able to survive on the tiny taste from stolen beer bottles. 

Buck’s hand fell from its place on Eddie’s jaw to grip at his shoulder, the older man pressing him harder into the wall. His body arched into his as one of Eddie’s hands moved to the small of his back. 

“Fuck, Eddie!” Buck choked out, his mouth pulling away as he felt Eddie’s length press into his upper thigh.  _ Thank god we are almost the same height _ , rolling his hips into Eddie’s. 

Buck’s other hand wrapped around Eddie’s waist and pulled him closer, the other man slipping a leg between his thighs. Eddie’s mouth started trailing kisses down his jaw, as he burrowed his head in Buck’s neck. He drew circles with his nose, breathing in the younger man’s natural scent. 

Shudders traveled down Buck’s spine as Eddie’s stubble scraped across his skin, leaving his neck rubbed red. Buck threw his head back against the wall with a thud, as Eddie nosed along his neck and breathed him in, his mind melting away.

_ How did I never notice how great his beard feels against my skin?,  _ Buck thought.  _ Because you were too focused on his mouth.  _

The mouth that was currently attaching itself to the sensitive spot on his neck. A moan started creeping up Buck’s throat and he quickly bit his lip to stifle it. 

“Don’t,” Eddie breathed against his neck. His lips trailed up, his teeth biting down on the soft lobe of Buck’s ear. “I’m so tired of you always stifling your moans around me. I want to hear  _ you _ .” 

Shivers ran down Buck’s body, both at Eddie’s words and the moist heat of his breath against his ear. He turned his head, capturing Eddie’s lips again. 

Eddie responded by pulling Buck impossibly closer, the hard line of his thigh brushing against Buck’s cock. Buck rocked into it, his mouth falling open at the sensation as his dick rubbed against the fabric of his boxers. 

Eddie continued delving into his mouth, committing the layout to memory. Buck just let him tilt his head down and accepted it. 

“Ed-Edd-Eddie,” Buck pulled back, Eddie’s mouth continuing to kiss down his jaw. Buck sighed and grabbed his friend’s face, dragging Eddie’s mouth away from his skin. Eddie whimpered, and okay that was something Buck needed more of, and made to move back to his lips, but Buck just held him away. “Eddie, as much as I would love for you to fuck me against a wall, maybe we should move this somewhere other than right in front of the door. Preferably, your bedroom?”

Eddie responded by kissing him hard against the mouth. Buck gave in, letting himself be pushed up against the wall once again. 

He almost lost himself to the near-hypnotic feel of Eddie’s tongue against his again, when Eddie pulled back. He locked his burning gaze onto Buck for a moment, lips curling upward before he grabbed his hand and started pulling Buck down the hallway. 

_ Finally, we are getting somewhere _ , Buck thought excitedly as Eddie nudged his shoulder and he fell back against the man’s bed. Only a moment later, and Eddie was on top of him, his lips pressed into Buck’s collarbone like a man dying of thirst.

His tongue traced a path across the ridge of bone, before licking into the hollow of his throat. Buck groaned, his hands coming up to tighten in both Eddie’s hair and t-shirt. 

“Fuck, Eddie,” Buck moaned, pulling at the back of Eddie’s shirt. Eddie took it as a sign, coming back up and pressing his mouth against Buck’s. “Eddie,  _ Eddie _ .” Buck pleaded once again. “Take off your shirt.” 

Eddie swiftly sat back onto his knees and whipped his t-shirt off over his head, tossing it carelessly behind him. One of Buck’s hands slid up to rest on the lower half of Eddi’s abs. His throat bobbed as he swallowed thickly, thumb stroking over the quivering muscles. His hand climbed up Eddie’s torso and curled around his neck, pulling him back down. 

Eddie’s lips crashed into his once more, Buck’s tongue teasing his bottom lip. Finally, Eddie’s mouth opened enough for Buck to lick at Eddie’s tongue, mixing their individual tastes. 

Buck’s hand slowly trailed down Eddie’s torso once more, coming to rest on the waistband of his sleep pants. He hooked his finger inside the fabric, pulling down at it. He pulled back and huskily whispered an  _ Off _ ! against Eddie’s lips, blue eyes growing darker by the minute. 

Eddie pulled back from Buck, resting on his hands beside his head. He was breathing heavily as his eyes traced over Buck’s face, before he squeezed his eyes shut. Finally, he pulled back fully and sat back on his knees. “We should stop. I don’t want to rush anything between us. We - we should take this slow and take our time.” 

Buck leaned up on his elbows, chest heaving with the effort to catch his breath. He reached up with one hand and grabbed Eddie’s chin. “Edmundo Diaz, I have been in love with you for almost two years. We’ve basically been dating these past few months. We’ve taken our time, and we have gone slow. Right now, all I want is to show you how much I love you and to finally,  _ finally,  _ be with you in all the ways I have dreamed about for the past few years.” 

Eddie stared down at him, eyes swirling with multiple emotions. Finally, he leaned down and pressed his lips to Buck’s. This kiss was different from the other ones. Softer, sweeter. Eddie pulled back again, resting his forehead against Buck’s and placing another soft kiss on the tip of his nose. 

“I love you, too, cariño.”

Suddenly, Eddie pulled away and stood up, Buck following on his elbows. He watched as Eddie shucked off his pants and underwear at the same time. Eddie’s cock sprang out of his clothes, smacking against his abs. 

This definitely wasn’t the first time Buck had ever seen another man’s cock. He’d even given a handjob once or twice before. And this definitely wasn’t the first time he’s ever seen Eddie’s. However, this was the first time he’s ever seen Eddie’s with the thought that  _ I can touch him  _ and  _ Soon, that will be  _ inside  _ me _ .

Buck moved to sit up, scooching to the end of the bed. Finally,  _ finally _ , Eddie’s dick was right in front of him. He glanced up at Eddie questioningly, his hands coming up to rest on the top of the older man’s thighs.

Biting his lip, Eddie nodded his head. He released a small groan, his eyes falling shut as Buck’s hand moved to grip the base of his dick. Buck kept his eyes trained on Eddie’s face, his hand slowly starting to stroke up his length. He watched as Eddie winced, his eyebrows knitting together and his hand coming to a stop. 

“I-it’s just your hand is a little dry. I think I have some lu- oh shit.” Eddie cursed, watching as Buck spit into his open palm before stroking his length again. Buck looked up at him from beneath his lashes, and winked. 

Buck continued jacking the long length of Eddie’s cock, his eyes falling to take in the sight. From this close up, he could see the pre-cum beading at the tip. He swiped his thumb over it on the next upstroke, smearing it around the angry red head. Eddie’s hip twitched under his other hand, causing Buck to smirk. 

His hand continued to jack Eddie at a slow rhythm, his eyes committing the anatomy to memory. Buck watched as another bead of pre-cum leaked out of Eddi’s tip, suddenly overwhelmed with wanting to taste it. 

_ Fuck it _ , he thought, his tongue darting out to swipe the liquid into his mouth. It was a weird taste but nothing too bad. It was heady, musky, and something that he could only describe as purely  _ Eddie _ . Said man groaned above him, hips jerking forward and his dick poking Buck against his cheek. 

Buck chuckled, his thumb once more swiping over the head. Eddie’s hips jerked again and Buck smirked up at him, causing Eddie to roll his eyes. 

“C-can I,” Buck started, grabbing Eddie’s full attention. Buck paused, biting the inside of his lip as he glanced up at Eddie. His cheeks colored as he flushed in embarrassment. “I’ve never really done any of  _ this  _ before.” 

Eddie blinked his eyes, looking down at Buck in confusion. “You’ve never really done what?”

“This.” Buck nodded his head, towards Eddie’s crotch where he was still holding his dick. Buck licked his lips before continuing. “I-I’ve never really been with another guy before. An-and I don’t really want to mess this up or ruin this for you, but I really,  _ really _ want to suck your dick.” 

“ _ Merida _ , mi amor.” Eddie’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, hips jerking in Buck’s hand. “You can’t just say things like that.” 

Buck’s eyes twinkled as he started jacking him slowly again. “Sorry.”

“No , the fuck your not.” Eddie nearly growled, reaching down and grabbing the back of Buck’s neck. “I don’t care if you’ve ever done any of this before. In fact, I am fucking glad that I’m the first person you’ve ever done this with. I just want you to be comfortable doing whatever you want, okay?” 

Buck nodded, his thumb dipping into the slit of Eddie’s cock. Shivers ran down Eddie’s back, and he swatted Buck on the side of the head, smiling down at him. “Stop that, asshole. I’m trying to talk to you. If you want to try something, you can do it. If you don’t, then we can stop. It’s all up to you.”

“It’s up to you too, Eddie.” Buck said, looking up at him and pinching his hip. “If you don’t like something or I am awful at it, you can stop me too.” 

Eddie nodded, stroking the back of Buck’s neck and giving him a reassuring smile. Buck returned the smile and fixed his eyes back on Eddie’s length. He leaned forward and licked at the head once again. He found he didn’t hate the taste. 

Buck flicked his eyes back up at Eddie and saw the man gazing down at him in adoration. He took a deep calming breath and sucked the head of Eddie’s dick into his mouth. Eddie’s head fell back and his jaw twitched. 

Buck took this as a good sign and sucked lightly, running his tongue on the underside of the spongy head. He pulled back, letting it fall from his lips with a pop and licked up from the bottom. 

Peppering small open-mouthed kisses along the shaft, he placed his lips back around the tip. His tongue dipped back into the man’s slit, curling in to capture the beads of pre-cum that were now a steady stream. He placed his lips back around the head, hollowing his cheeks and sliding farther down the length. 

Buck did his best to keep his teeth tucked away, only once letting them scrape against Eddie’s length. Eddie only winced slightly, but Buck was already backing off with a string of apologies. 

“Buck, cariño,” Eddie cooed, his hand running through Buck’s hair. Buck looked up at him guiltily, his head tilted back. “It’s okay, mi amor. Trust me, the first time I sucked a guys dick? He shoved it too far down my throat and I choked for five minutes afterward. I don’t expect you to be some natural at it. It’s something that takes practice.”

“That means I can practice on you right?” Buck asked, biting on his swollen lips. Eddie gripped the back of his neck, pulling Buck up to stand in front of him. He leaned in and pressed a small kiss against his lips. 

“Of course, cariño.” Eddie whispered against his lips, eyes shining. “You can use me as practice anytime you want. But for now, how about we get you out of these pants, huh?” 

Buck nodded quickly, shuddering as Eddie’s fingers gripped the waistband of his sweats. Eddie pushed both the sweats and underwear down to his thighs letting the material pool at his feet, eyes darkening as Buck’s dick fell out. 

Eddie wasted no time, and wrapped a hand around Buck’s length, finger dipping into the slit and spreading pre-cum around the head. Buck groaned, his eyes falling closed as his lips searched blindly for Eddie’s mouth. 

Buck licked into Eddie’s mouth, hands coming to rest on the older man’s shoulders. Eddie released Buck’s cock, wrapping both arms around his waist and pulling the man closer. Their bare cock’s bumped against each other for the first time, sending shivers down their spines. 

Buck’s hips jerked into Eddie’s, searching for friction against his cock. It brushed against both his and Eddie’s bare abs, the older man pulling him impossibly closer. 

One of Eddie’s hands came around to cup Buck’s ass, his fingers trailing in between his cheeks. Buck’s body shuddered as Eddie’s finger first made contact with his hole, barely just a brush. As a more demanding finger pressed against his hole, Buck felt his knees almost give out. Eddie rubbed his finger over Buck’s entrance, before he pulled back from Buck’s mouth. 

"Um- Buck?” Eddie questioned, leaning to look over Buck’s shoulder. He glanced back up at Buck’s eyes, eyebrows furrowed. “Why are you like, wet?” 

Buck blinked, his own face showing confusion. Suddenly, he remembered. "I uh- fucked myself with a dildo earlier."

"I-” Eddie paused, his pupils contracting. “Okay, that's so fucking hot." Eddie grabbed the back of Buck’s neck and smashed his lips against his, licking into his mouth. 

He abruptly pulled away again, their lips making a smacking sound as they separated again. He gave Buck a mischievous smile. "So does that mean you won’t need any prep?” 

Buck gave him an exasperated look and smacked him against the back of the head. He glanced down at Eddie’s dick, before looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “Have you seen your dick? I’m gonna need more than a beginners dildo to prepare for that thing.” 

“Okay,” Eddi said, stepping back from Buck. He whimpered and tried to follow after the older man. “Okay, yeah. Do you want me to open you with my fingers or my tongue?”

“Fuck me,” Buck said, resting his forehead against Eddie’s. Eddie chuckled and scratched lightly down Buck’s back. He leaned back and glanced into Eddie’s eyes with a sheepish smile. “Both?”

“You got it, cariño.” Eddie smiled at him brightly, pushing against his shoulders and nudging him back towards the bed. “As much as I would love to watch your reactions, it will be much easier if you're on your knees. Is that okay?”

Buck nodded, even though he was a little disappointed. He turned from Eddie and climbed into the center of the bed. He dropped down onto his hands and knees, glancing back at Eddie and wiggling his ass invitingly. 

Eddie groaned, walking over to his nightstand. Buck’s eyes followed him, watching as he pulled out a bottle of lube and a box of condoms. He raised the condoms and turned to Buck, waving them with his eyebrow raised. 

“I’m clean.” Buck replied. “I trust you and I’ve been dreaming about you cumming in my ass for months. If that’s okay with you.”

“Fuck, Evan,” Eddie cursed, hand going down to squeeze at his erection. “Of course, that’s okay with me.” 

Eddie threw the box back in the drawer and climbed onto the bed. He settled behind Buck, placing the tube to the side. He planted his hands on each globe of Buck’s ass, pulling the cheeks apart. 

Buck turned to look back at Eddie, watching as the man looked at his hole. Buck flexed his thighs, his ass clenching. Eddie’s eyes flicked up to his and smirked. Maintaining eye contact, he licked a stripe up Buck’s cleft. 

Buck dropped his head onto the bed, a groan working its way out of his throat. He felt Eddie chuckle against him, his teeth biting into the meaty flesh of his ass. Eddie’s mouth curved slightly over the bite mark, blowing soothingly over it. 

Shivers ran down Buck’s spine, his back arching as Eddie flicked his tongue against his entrance. Eddie’s breath was hot against his backside, making the saliva cool as it made contact. Buck felt Eddie’s tongue poke against the ring of muscle, the rim giving way. 

Eddie’s tongue licking into him was a strange sensation but  _ fuck _ if it wasn’t hot. It lit Buck’s nerve endings on fire. He felt as his hole stretched around Eddie’s tongue, the muscle fucking in and out of him. His dick twitched eagerly beneath him, heat pooling tighter in his stomach. 

“Oh s-shit, god, E-eddie,” Buck stuttered out, hips pushing back against Eddie’s face as he attempted to fuck himself on his tongue. Eddie’s facial hair was rubbing against his cheeks, scratching and reddening the skin. One of Eddie’s hands left his ass cheek, his finger rubbing against the rim. Buck groaned as the finger pushed its way into him, hips pushing back to suck it further in. 

“God, you are so fucking greedy,” Eddie murmured, pulling his mouth away from Buck’s ass. Buck let out a whine, both at the words and the loss of contact. Eddie chuckled, sliding a second finger in and licking around the rim. It wasn't much longer until he began working in a third digit, and Buck’s eyes rolled back at the stretch. His fingers were much thicker than Buck’s own had been, much thicker than the dildo he’d used earlier too. They stretched him out more than anything that had ever been in him, but he still wasn’t sure if they were enough to prepare him for Eddie. 

“I-I think that’s en-enough prep work,” Buck stammered, wiggling his ass back. Eddie responded by playfully nipping at Buck’s left cheek. Buck squirmed backwards, his ass clenching around Eddie’s fingers. “C-come on! F-fuck me already!”

“Yeah, you really are hungry for it aren't you.” Eddie teased as he slipped his fingers out of Buck, the latter whimpering at the loss, before cringing as cold lube slid down his crack. He turned to shoot a glare at Eddie, who just grinned wolfishly at him as he lubed up his cock. 

Buck’s mouth fell open as he felt the tip of Eddie at his entrance. He struggled to keep his eyes from squeezing closed as the head popped past the rim, his eyes falling onto Eddie.

Eddie on the other hand could not keep his eyes off of Buck’s hole, watching as his cock disappeared inch by inch into the man he loved. 

When Buck finally felt Eddie bottom out, he let his eyes clench shut, head hanging between his arms. He could feel Eddie’s hip bones pressed against his ass and knew the man was as far in as he could get, giving Buck the time to adjust. 

Eddie was by far the thickest thing that had ever entered Buck’s ass, but it didn’t hurt per-se. It was just -  _ uncomfortable _ . It was a weird weight. Something filling him up in a place he never thought he’d feel before. 

_ Remember that’s how the toy felt too, before you found your prostate. It will get better _ , Buck thought. He nodded, giving Eddie the okay to continue. 

Eddie got the message, pulling out of Buck slowly, before sliding back in. He started a steady, slow rhythm of in and out, in and out. Buck adjusted to the intrusive feeling, sighing as it finally started to feel  _ good _ . He began rocking his hips in time with Eddie’s shallow thrusts. 

Finally, Eddie brushed against that sweet spot inside him, sending tingles through his nerves. He thrust his hips back harder against Eddie. “Fuck, harder! Faster!” 

Eddie complied, pulling out farther before slamming back in at an increased pace. His hand stroked up Buck’s back, gripping it and using it as leverage to pull him back into his thrusts. Buck gasped, his mouth falling open and his eyes fluttering up to the ceiling. 

Every thrust sent shudders up Buck’s spine, hitting his prostate. He leaned down on his forearms, resting his forehead on the mattress. Eddie draped himself over Buck’s back, mouthing at the join of his shoulder and neck. 

He licked a path up to Buck’s ear, sucking the lobe into his mouth. “You feel so fucking good around me, Evan. I can’t believe we waited so long to do this.” 

Buck moaned, little hiccupping sounds coming from his throat. The sound of his name,  _ his given name _ , falling from Eddie’s lips sent shivers down his spine.“I- fuck, I don’t know - uh god, I don’t know either.” 

Eddie moaned and attached his lips to Buck’s neck, sucking bruises into the skin. His hips began to roll steadily into Buck’s, pressing incessantly against the man’s prostate. One of Eddis’s arms wrapped around his torso and grabbed a hold of his dick. 

Buck cried out as he finally got friction against his neglected cock, hips jerking into Eddie’s hand. He fucked himself between Eddie’s hand and his dick inside him, biting down hard on his lower lip. 

_ More, more, more! _

Suddenly, Buck was pushing Eddie off of him, the older man quickly detaching himself. Eddie leaned back on his knees, his eyes questioning and concerned. Buck just pushed him back onto the bed, before climbing on top of him. 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ ,” Eddie moaned, watching with lidded eyes as Buck slid himself down onto Eddie’s length. Buck paused as he bottomed out, registering how  _ much _ deeper Eddie’s dick was in this position. He allowed himself time to adjust, running his hands up Eddie’s sweaty torso. 

“Holy shit,” Buck groaned out, his thighs straining as he pulled himself up before falling back down again. His eyes fluttered closed as he tilted his head back. “T-this feels amazing.” 

Eddie could only watch as Buck fucked himself on his dick, his hands coming up to help guide Buck’s hips. 

Buck could feel one of Eddie’s hands trailing up his side, body trying to flinch away from the ticklish sensation. “I-I swear to god, Edmundo. I-if you try to start a tickle f-fuck-fight right now, I wi-ill  _ end you _ .” 

Eddie barked out a laugh, thumb rolling over Buck’s nipple before pinching with his forefinger. “Wouldn’t dream of it, cariño.” 

Buck shivered, the combination of stimulation from both his nipple and his ass was almost too much. A coil of heat began to tighten in his belly, his orgasm fast approaching. 

One of Buck’s hands reached down, pulling Eddie up towards him. They met in a burning blaze of passion, lips melding together as they breathed each other in. 

“Fuck, Eddie.” Buck said, voice coming out in a breathy gasp. “I’m s-so close.” 

Eddie responded by grabbing his hips and fucking up into his prostate, his own mouth open as he panted. Buck cried out loudly, reaching down and grabbing his neglected cock. He rolled his thumb over the head and suddenly, his vision blacked out. 

White streaks of cum shot through his fingers, striping up Eddie’s chest. Buck’s vision slowly came back to him, his eyes falling to Eddie’s face. Eddie was still pistoning his hips into Buck, who was quickly becoming very sensitive. 

Eddie’s face scrunched up, his muscles tensing. Buck bit his lip at the sensation of Eddie’s dick twitching in his ass, moaning as he felt hot cum shoot deep inside. A satisfied, blissed-out smile spread across his face at  _ finally  _ knowing what it felt like to have Eddie fill him up. A moment later he collapsed against Eddie’s chest, the other man’s arms wrapping tenderly around him. 

The two of them sat in silence for a while, simply basking in the afterglow. Eddie’s dick soon softened, slipping out of Buck’s ass messily. 

“So,” Eddie started, breaking the silence. Buck made a noise of acknowledgment, drawing patterns with his fingers on Eddie’s chest. “Why exactly did you show up at my door barefoot, with no shirt on?” 

Buck laughed, thinking about what a sight he must have looked like. “After you left earlier, Maddie came over. Heard you had gone on a date and thought I’d need the company. Apparently, I wasn’t really good at hiding my feelings about you.”

“Could have fooled me,” Eddie said, running a hand through Buck’s hair. He purred, leaning into the touch. “I had no idea you even liked men.” 

“I guess, to be honest, I didn’t really either,” Buck replied, glancing up at Eddie from beneath his lashes. “Or I guess I did, but I kind of repressed it. I didn’t really admit to myself that I was in love with you until we started this thing. I mean, I always have been. Since the moment I first saw you.”

“Yeah, I could say the same.” Eddie smiled down at him, gripping the hand on his chest and lacing their fingers. “I can’t say there was really a specific moment I knew when I fell in love with you, I just realized I had been for a long time one day. I was just too afraid to ruin this.”

Eddie swallowed thickly before continuing.“When you called me to that bathroom and asked me to mark you up, I jumped at the opportunity to be that close to you. It was both the best and worst decision of my life. Especially once you started hanging around with Claire. I thought for sure that you two had started falling for each other. I-” 

“You know it’s not like that, right?” Buck interrupted, squeezing Eddie’s hand. Eddie chuckled, leaning down to place a soft kiss against Buck’s lips. 

“Of course I know that now. But fuck,” Eddie paused, his eyes darkening. “That night in the bar when we all got together. The two of you on the dancefloor made my blood boil. Merida, you were so hot.”

“We did it to make you jealous. Her idea.”

“Of course it was.” Eddie rolled his eyes, pulling Buck in for another kiss. The kiss quickly became more heated, and a thought popped into Buck’s head, making him pull back. 

“Why did you tell me that Maddie tried to set you up? I was talking to her tonight and she mentioned that she didn’t even have a new coworker.” 

Eddie’s eyes widened, and he cleared his throat. His cheeks colored, his eyes shifting guiltily to the side. “I  _ may  _ have made an excuse so I could get you to return the favor.” He looked at Buck sheepishly. “But, fuck! I can’t help it! I’ve had such a bad case of blue balls for the past few months. I saw the opportunity and I took it.” 

“I didn’t say I minded,” Buck said, placing a kiss against Eddie’s lips. “Besides, look where it got us.” 

Eddie grinned, pulling Buck back in for another kiss. After a moment, Eddie moved to grip Buck’s ass. He squirmed as he felt cum trickle out of his asshole and he pulled back, grinning sheepishly at Eddie as he climbed out of the bed. 

“Shower with me?” 

Eddie grinned and let himself be pulled up, leading Buck out of the bedroom and towards the bathroom. He turned towards the man he loved, biting his lip and sending him a heated look. 

“Round two?” 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS THE END! As many of you know this is my longest story ever and the first fic I have ever finished! This has been such a wild ride and I owe it all to you guys! 
> 
> Please tell me how you guys liked the ending! And I look forward to all your comments! 
> 
> I can always be reached at my tumblr [asteroidbill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/asteroidbill)! And I should have some for fics in the works soon!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter! I was going to wait until I had finished the whole thing before I started posting, but alas here we are. I am hoping to post on a weekly basis but I am notorious for not sticking to guidelines!  
> Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this so please leave comments and kudos letting me know! I will take any and all constructive criticism!
> 
> Until next time! xx


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